!

c : J e s s s
'

O u r D ic tio nar ies G r eek , Fr enc h, G erman .

R u fus M J o nes, P r incipal Ooh Gr ov e swa

.
m , Vas

salboro , Maine : I do not be lie v e an e q ually good one

can b e fo u nd for the mo ne y Mar ch 2 , 1892. .

C N 8 W heeler I nstr uctor in Gr eek, B o

. . . , wdoin College,
Br unswick, Maine I nd that it (Gre e k Dictio nar y ) is all
that you c laim for it, and I am ve r y mu ch please d with it

.

I ts typo gr aphy es pe c ially a point whe re mo st dictio nar ies

othe r wise goo d usuall y failleav es nothing to be de
Mar ch 1 1 892 ,
.

H S L ehr , P r esident Ohio N or mal Univer sity Ada

. .
, ,

Ohio I mme diate ly on r e ce ipt of the v o lu me (Gree k

Dictio nar y ) I e xamine d it w ith s o me car e and was e xcee d ,

ingly pleas e d with it infac t de ligh te d ; and so wr ote you

,

at the time an d said that we wo u ld intr od u ce it I hav e .

adv ise d ou r bo okselle rs tokee p it onthe ir she lv es .

Febr uary 2 9, 1 892 .

I r ving AHeikes S up t o f S.chools P l

y
,
mo ut h P

a I , ,

wish to s ay again that I am e specially please d with the

'

Ger manand Fre nch Dic tio nar ies Febr uary 2 9, 1892 . .

F W N ewell, P r incipal 7 he or d Academ y hetfo

'

. . T r d, Vt

I am c onvince d that yo u r Gr ee k D ictio nar y is the be st for

the pr ice . Febr u ary 2 9, 1892 .

j . G8nr r
. itt ,
P ro
fessor o
f Gr eek, Hanov er College, Han
over , I ndiana Am so m u c h please d with it that I shall
take gr eat ple as u re in r ec o m me nding it to my c lasses .

The English Gre e k par t is what I hav e felt the ne ed of in

-

teaching Gre e k pr ose , and am glad to nd it so we ll

Ou pp lied . Februar y 2 7, 1892 .
Our Dictionaries .
G r e ek, Fr ench, Ger man .

M C S mar t, P r in
. . cipal S tev ens Pligh S chool, Cla r emont ,

M H I hav e e xamine d the G r e e k Dictio nar y most car e

.

fu lly I am su r pr ise d that a b ook soc o mple te and sowe ll

.

made canb e s o ld for th e p r ice I shall spe ak a good wo rd .

for it to my pu pils . Febr u ary 2 9, 1892 .

F . W . Haz en, P r inci

p al Cr aftsbury Acad emy, N o
r th

Cr aftsbury, Vt mu ch ple ase d with yo u r Gre e k

. I am
Dictio nar y , and s hall rec o mme nd it tomy c lasses .

If yo u r Fr e nch D ic tio nar y is e q u al to the Gr e e k D ictio nar y

I shall be mo r e thansatisfie d Febr u ary 2 6, 1892 . .

L M D anton, P r es
t Clain Univer sity, Or angebur h
g ,
oopie s Gr ee k Eng Eng Greek
. .

S C Ple as e se nd -

. . . -
. . .

Le xic o n Ge r manEng Eng Ge r man d it

- . . -

to .
(Classic se r ies . ) Febr u ary 2 4 , 1892 .

E dw S . . o
J ynes, l
P r qfcsso
r
qf Moder n L an
g g
u a es (A u thor o
fjoyncs Otto Ger man and F r ench !

S er ies) , So u th Car olina Co llege, Colu mbia, S C . .

The vo lu mes ar e well made and v ery attr activ e I .

shall call the atte ntionof the

nts to them and stu d e

see that o ur bo oksellers ar e provide d with them r eg

ularly her eafter (Fren ch an d Ger manD ic tion

. ar ies ) .

F ebr uary 2 3, 1 8 9 2 .

J ames P T horns, P h D , P r in
. ciyc l A cademic D ep ar t
. .

ment, Wayland Univer sity, Beav er D am, PVis s Y ou r Gree k .

English and English Gr e e k D ictio nar y lls a want lo ng felt

- .

I t is e xce lle nt in for m, we ll bo u nd, acc u r ate

in scholarsh ip, and is absolu tely ne ce ssar y for co mple te
an d tho rou gh wor k inGr ee k Ple ase se nd me yo ur te r ms .

for in tr od u ctiontomy Gre e k c lasses Febr u ary 2 2 , 1892 . .

Our D ictionaries G r eek ,
G er man, Fr enc h .

A L R ainer , M u hlenberg College A llentown P a Ur

. . , , . .

Se ip our College President has co mmend ed the wo r k (Greek

, ,

D ctionar y) very highly and I have an or d er for cop ies ,

at le ast What commissioncanyou allo w me ?

.

Febru ary 1 , 1 89 2 .

A 0 Ber seil, P r ofessor o ug u stana Co ll

. .
f Gr eek A ege , ,

t h I sland I ll S end 2 4 copies of the C lassic G r e ek

, .

Eng lish E nglish Gr eek Dictio nary -

.
j anua ry 2 8 , 1 89 2 .

S ar ah H Melv in, Chair o f Ger man, M t I I o

. l
y ohe College .

Sou th Had ley M ass 1 sh all r ecommend t he C lassic D ict ion

,

ary tothe Ger manclasses her eafter j anu ary 2 6 1 8 9 2 . ,

Wm Gillett , P r o
. !fessor o
f
. F r ench U niver sity o
f the ,

City o ew l or h A ew Y o I h v r eceived the Classic

f
f
N rk
'

a e ,

Fre nch D ic tio nar ywhich you kindly nt me I have ex

se .

snth ed it an
: d like it very much .
and have r eco mmen d ed it to
my class anu ary 2 6 1 89 2
.
j , .

Will A . Elliot, P r inci

p al P r p
e ar atory School and I nstruc

tor in Latin and Gr eek, Mead v ille , Pa . The Dictio nary

ms tobe all you claim for it and is r emarkably cheap The
e .

English Gr ee k par t d oubles the value of the bo

- ok and su pplies
an eed lo ng fe lt I c an hea r tily co mme nd it t
.othe cla sse s in
anu ary 2 5 , 1 89 2
Greek .
j .

J ames L ees, P r oT f essor o

f G r eek,
. Un iver sity of
N ebrasha, L incoln, N eb Y ou may se nd me 1 9 (nineteen ) .

copies of your Greek English and English Gr eek D ictio nar y

- -

fo
r e use o fo ur p r esent Fr eshmanC lass l au nd ry 2 3 1 8 9 2 . , .
Ou r Dictionar ies G reek .

Fr ancis G R ussell, 8 J , Libr ar ian an

. . d Prof e
.ssor o
f
Gr ech, S t Fr ancis Xav ier s Co
.

llege, 30 West Sixteenth S tr eet,
New Yo r k: Tosay that I am gr e atly p lease d with it (Classic

Gre e k-English English Gr e e k D ictio nar y ), is to praise it

-

e v e nless thanit de se r v e s I nd it q u ite to my liking, and

.

I am c onde nt that where v e r use d, it will be highly appro

cis te d alike by teac he r an d pu pil, and giv e fu ll antisin e

tion.
( ntrodu ced )
I Mar ch 1 0 , 1 8 9 3.

R ev 5. Guilbaud, Pro
. f essor o
f G r eek, S t Char les Col .

lege, E llico tt City, Y our Gre e k English and English -

G r ee k Dic tio n ar y h as b e e n u nanimo us ly ado pte d by o ur

C o lle ge b o ar d We will also take a ce r tain nu mbe r of

.

c o pie s o f the English Gree k se par ate, because many ofou r

-

stu de n ts who hav e the Gr e e k English are withou t the -

English Gr e e k
- Abou t 1 70 stu de nts follow the Gr e e k
. .

co u rse ; sowe will n e e d a go od su pp ly of dictionar ies .

May 3 4 , 1 8 92 .

R ev P N icho las L eo nar d, O S F , S t yoseph s D ie

'
.
. . . .
. .

cesan Co llege, Teu to olis, I ll I t i ou r intentio n to in tro

p s .

d u ce yo ur Classic Gre e k D ictionar y We hav e sofar use d . .

G r o v e s G r e e k Dictionar y

. ay 3 4 , 1 8 9 3 .

Brother I sidor e, F S . Pr esident La S alle Co

. C llege,
P hiladelphia, Ha : I s hall take ple asu r e inr e comme nding
Classic Gr ee k D ic tio nar y to the
you r c o mmittee on te xt
books, for adoptioninou r c o lle ge . May 2 0, 1 8 92 .
 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CER O .

I .
(AM . I .

How mu ch gr ief I have su er ed and of how mu ch

assist anc e I have been de pr ived , both in my pr o fes
siou al an d domestic du ties, by the death of my co u sin
Lu c ius, yo u c an j u dge bo itoi than any one , for all th e
en joyment which a man can gain fr om th e r enement
.

and condu ct of anoth er , I gained fr om him S oI have

.

nodou bt that you ar e also grieved at this occ ur r ence,

both since you ar e moved by my sor r ow and you have
your self lost a r elative and fr iend endo wed with ever y
exc ellen c e an d distingu ished fo r his str ict p er for man ce
of du ty, 11 man who car ed for you of h is ownaccor d as
.

well as on acco u nt of my speaking of you A s to what .

yo u wr ite me abo u t yo ur sist er , sh e her self will te ll yo u

ho w mu ch p ains I have tak en that my br oth er Quintu s

sho u ld feel towar d h er as h e ou ght ; when I fo u nd him

to b e inth e wr o ng I se nt that le tter tohim in which I

,

thought it best to war n him as a you nger br other and ,

to chide him as in er r or Fr om the letter which he

.

aft er war ds wr ote me, I am sur e all things ar e as they

sho uld b e an d as we wish Yo
. u r ep r o ach me u nr eason

ably fo r th e in ter r u ption of my lett er s ; for P omponia

never told me in wh om I cou ld entr u st a letter ; and
too , I did not have any one who wou ld gointoEp ir u s,
and I had no t yet h ear d th at you w er e at Ath aws Th en
.

ab ou t th e a air w ith Acu tiliu s which yo u pu t in my

2 SEL ECT LETT ER S OF CI CERO .

hands, as soonas I c ame to Rome after your depar tur e,

I attended toit b u t it tur ned ou t that th er e was no
,

need of ar guments and as I thou ght you wo u ld have

,

en ou gh advice, I pr efer r ed P ed u caaum sho uld give it to

y o u by letter r a th er th an I F. o r wh e n I h ad list e ned
many days toAcu tilius, who se mode of c onver sation I
think is known to you I d id not think it a bu r den to
,

wr ite you of h is complaints, when I c onsider ed th e dis

agr eeable h ear in g of them a light t ask Bu t let me
.

tell you who r epr oach me, that you have sent me o nly
one letter , althou gh you have had mor e leisur e for wr it
ing and gr eater oppor tun ity fo r sen ding Yo u wr ite
.

that I ou ght tobr ing abo u t a r ec onciliation, evenif the

disposition of a c er tain p er son is ho stile toyou I am .

consider ing what you say, and I have not over looke d
it, b u t he has beeninu enc e d insome r emar kable way .

Mor eover , I have not o mitte d the things which sho uld
have beensaid abou t yo u ; b u t what e or ts sho uld b e
made, I thou ght I ou ght to d eter mine fr o m your desir e .

I f yo u will c ar efu lly wr it e me wh at yo u w ish, yo u w ill

nd I have not intended tob e less active thanyou ar e ,
nor will b e less diligent thanyou wish I n r egar d to .

Tadius, he told me th at yo u h ad wr itten that th er e was

no need of tr ou ble, since the inh er itance had been

se cu r ed by r ight of po ssessio n I wonder that you do
.

not know that in the c ase of legal gu ar dianship , noth

ing canb e h eld by r ight of possession I am glad that .

y o u e njoy yo ur p ur chase in Epir us What I have en

.

tr usted to you and what you know is su itable for my

house at T u sculu m, I shou ld like to have you pr ocur e,
as yo u wr ite yo u will as far as po ssible witho u t in
, co n
v en iencing you r self . Fo r in th at plac e alon e I am at

r est fr o m all to il an d tr ou ble I daily expect my br other

.

Quintus T er entia is gr eatly tr ou bled with r heu ma

.

tism ; my dar ling Tu llio la d ear ly loves yo u an d your

sister an d mo ther , and sends many gr eetings toyo u .
 1.
( A TT I . .
n1 .
( ATT 1 . . 3

Take c ar e of yo ur health and r etain your love for me,

and b e assur ed that I love yo u lik e a br oth er .

II .
( A TT . I .

I know your gr andmother died both fr om longing for

y o u a n d , to o , b e c au se s h e f ea r e d th at th e L atin games

might not b e obser v ed and no sacr ic e offer ed on the

Alban mou nt I think th at L u ciu s Sau feiu m will con
.

sole yo u fo r h er de ath I look for you h er e abou t Jan

.

u ar y, fr om c ommo n r epo r t an d fr om letter s which yo u

have sent to oth er s ; for you have wr itt enme nothing

of th e matter Those statu es which you have pr ocur ed
.

fo r me hav e lan d ed at Caj eta I have not yet seen .

them ; for I have h ad nooppor tunity for leav ing R ome ;

I sent some one topay th e du ty I am mu ch obliged .

toyo u , b ec au se yo u have p r o c u r e d th em so c ar efu lly

and c h eaply . I n r egar d to th e c onciliation o f o ur

fr iend, I have done and tr ied ever ything, b u t in a won

d er fu l degr ee his mind has changed When you come .

y o u w i
ll l e ar n fr o m m e of th e se su sp ic io ns, altho ugh I
think you have h ear d them I have not been able to .

r estor e S allu s t ,wh o is h er e, to his favor as of old .

This I have wr itten you becau se h e u sed to accu se me

abou t yo u
. He fou nd in his own c ase that L u c ceiu s is
implacable, and my aectio n h as be enwanting neith er
to you nor himself I have betr othed Tulliola to Caius
.

Piso, so n of Lu ciu s P iso Fr u gi .

I II .
( AT T I . .

L et me tell you th at on th e d ay whenL u cius Julius

Cwsar and Caius Mar cius Figu lu s wer e electe d consu ls,
a little son was bor n tome, and T er entia is do ing w ell .

Not a line fr om you all this long time ! I wr ote c ar e

fully some time agoo f my pr o sp ects At pr esent I am .

thinking of d efending my r ival, Catiline We have the .

4 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

ju dges whom we wish and th e pr osecu tor is most oblig

,

ing . I h 0pe, if he secu r es ac qu ittal, that h e will b e

mor e r eady tojo inme in my c andidatur e, b u t if other
wise I shall bear it patiently It is essential for me
, .

th at you sho uld c o me befor e long fo r th er e is a ver y ,

str o n o
g p inio npr evailing that you r friends, meninhigh
st an ding will be opponents of my su ccess For gain
, .

ing th eir su ppo r t for me I see th at yo u will b e of the

g eatest use
r Sobe at R ome, as yo
. u dec ided, by J an

nar y .

IV .
( AnFm V . .

Allow me to expr ess my good wishes for the pr osper

ity of you rself and your ar my .

Yo ur letter to me says you had suppo sed th at mu tual

r egar d an d o ur r eco n c iliatio n wo uld have secur e d yo u

fr o m attack and r idicu le onmy par t What this may .

mean I fail to see quite clear ly

, I suspect however ,
.
,

that some one may have infor med you how I, when
insist in g in t h e S e nat e th at th er e w e r e m a n y who fe lt
so me bitter n ess th at th e stat e had beensaved by me ,

stated that r elatives of your s whom yo u cou ld n ot r efu se

had obtained fr om yo u the pr o mise to suppr ess the
wor ds which you had intended tosay inmy pr aise in
th e Se nate I nsaying this, I added th at yo
. u an d I had
shar ed th e du ty of savin g th e st at e ; o f r whi e I d e l

fended the city fr om intr igues at home and intestine

tr eason, you guar ded Italy fr om ar med enemies and
se cr e t co n sp ir acy ; b u t that this allianc e of our s fo r so

g r e at a nd gl or io us a wo r k h ad b e en s tr a in e d by yo ur

r elation s, who , tho u gh I had been the mean s of pr o cur

ing yo u a mo st impor tan t and d istinguished char ge,
wer e afr aid that you wou ld pay me some por tion of r e
g a r d in r etur n A .s th ese wo r ds of m i n e show e d h o w
mu ch I had looked for war d to what you wou ld say, and
how entirely I was disappointed, my ar gument seemed
 rv .
( AD FAM v . . 5

to excite a little amusement, and was fo llowed by a

cer tain amo u nt of laughter , not at you , b u t r ather at
my o wndisappointment, and be cause I was ac knoWled g
ing so naively and open ly that I had eager ly looked
for war d tobe ing eulogiz ed by you And su r ely what I.

said can not b u t b e consider ed comp limentar y to you

if, e ven in the fu llest splendor of my r enown and
achievements, I still lon g e d t o h av e s o m e c o nr m at io n
fr om your own lips And as toyour r efer ence to our
.

mu tu al r egar d, I know wh at you consider r ecip r ocity

in fr iendship . To me it seems to mean that aneq u ally

fr iendly feeling is extended and r eceived If I afr m .

that for your sake I have allowed my claim to your

pr ovinc e to b e passed over , I shall see m toyou to be
tr iing for self interest br ou ght abou t this r esolu tion,
-

and ever y day I r eap th er e fr om additio nal fr u it and

satisfac tion . What I d o a r m
is this that fr o m th e
moment I had declined the pr ovince inpu blic , I began
to consider how I cou ld best thr ow it into your hands .

As to th e ballo ting betweenyo u an d the other s I say

nothing ; I only wish you to sur mise that nothing what
ever which my co lleague did th er e in was withou t my
full cognizanc e L ook at what followed ; how qu ickly
.

I convoked the Senate that ver y day whenthe balloting

was over , and the ample ter ms I must have use d in
your favor whenyou your self told me that my speech
not only paid a high compliment to you , b u t was ver y
dispar aging toyour colleagues .N ay, th e ver y decr ee
of the Senat e passed that day 18 cou ched insu ch ter ms
'

that as long as it r emains extant my ser vices to you

cannot po ssibly b e ignor ed Then again, I must b eg
.

y o u to r e co llect how ,
aft e r yo ur d ep a r t ur e , I spo k e abo u t
y o u in the Sen ate , how I addr e ssed pu blic meetin gs,
and how I cor r esponded with yo u ; an d wh enyo u h ave

takenall these things into ac cou nt , that I mu st ask yo u

toj u d e fo our self whether it seem to ou that o ur

g r
y s y y
6 SELECT LE TTER S OF CICER O .

late d emonstr atio n of oming to R ome was meeting me

c

ina mu tual spir it

. With r efer ence to what you say
abo u t a r econ ciliation between us, I do not u nd er
stan d why you shou ld speak of r econciliation wher e
th er e has never beenaninterr u ptionof fr iendship As .

to you r wr iting that your br other Metellu s h as not

deser ved to b e exp o sed toattacks fr om me, and all for
a single wor d , I wish yo u r st tob elieve th at I str ongly
symp athize with yo u r motives inthis an d your br oth er ly
aec tio n lled w ith kindly feeling, b u t then topar don
me if fo, r my co u n tr y s good, I have ever opposed you r

br other ; for I am as str ong a fr iend to th e state as the

most enthusiastic If tr uly I have b u t been defending
.

my ownpositionagainst a cr u elly u nj ust attack of his,

.

y ou m ay well b e satis ed th at I d onot make a per sonal

complaint to you of you r br other s inj ustic e to me For

.

when I had asc er tained th at he was deliber ate ly aiming

a blow, d eliver ed with th e whole weight of his po sition
as tr ibu ne to cr u sh me I applied to your wife Clau dia
,

and yo ur siste r Mu cia who se likin

, g for me , ow in g to
my intimacy with P omp ey I had oftennoticed, to deter
,

him fr om that wr o ng . I n spite of this, as I think yo u

hav e hear d, on the last day of th e year , he pu t u pon

me the consul who h ad saved t e state an insult
- h
which the vilest citiz eninthe lowest omce was never yet
expo sed to; actu ally d ebar ring me wh en layin g down
my o fce fr om the pr ivilege of a far ewell addr ess Y et
.

this insult was a signal honor for me ; for as he would

allow me n othing except to take the oath, I pr onou nced
alou d the tr u est and n oblest of oaths, and as lou dly the
people in answer solemnly atte sted th at I h ad swor n
this tr uly Y et, thou gh I had r ec eived this signal
.

a ront, on th at ver y day I sent to Metellu s common

friends to entr eat him to r econsider his attitu de towar d
me He r eplied to th em that it was not inhis power
.
,

fo r n ot long before he had pu blicly expr essed his epin ~

 rv .
(AD FAM v
. .

ion th at a man wh ohad pu nish ed oth er s u nhear d ou ght

not himself to have th e pr ivilege of sp eech How .

dignie d ! how p atriotic ! A pu nishment inicted by

th e S enate with th e appr oval o
, f ever y r esp ec table
c itizen on tho se who wo uld have bur ned R ome, mur
,

der ed her magistr ate s and th e Senate, and fanned the

ames of a wide spr eading war , he would now inict
-

on one wh o had fr e ed the Senate fr om mur der , the

capital fr o m r e, and Italy fr o m war And soI with
.

stood yo ur br oth er to his fac e, for in the S en at e, onthe

r st of Januar y, I soar gu ed with him abo u t the state
that he saw he had to d eal with a man r esolu te and
d eter mine d . Upon the thir d of Janu ar y, when he
opened th e d ebate , abou t ever y thir d wor d inhis sp eech
was aimed at me, or contained a thr eat against me .

Nothing cou ld b e mor e deliber ate thanhis attempt to

ef fect my r u in by any means what ever , and th at no t
by legal tr ial or ar gument, b u t by a violent and bully
ing attack . Had I not br ought spir it and d eter mination
tomeet his r e c kless onslau ght, who co u ld fail to b elieve
th at th e r esolu tiondisplayed inmy consu lship was d u e
not to deliber ation, b u t to c hanc e ? If you have not
beenawar e that su ch was Mete llu s s attitu de towar d

me, you sho uld th ink th at your br oth er h as su ppr essed

so me of th e mo st mater ial cir c u mstan c e s fr o m yo u ;

while , if he has taken you into his cou nsels at all I ,

have a right to b e cr edited with having shown gr eat

moder ation of t emp er for not r emonstr ating with you
abo u t this ver y incident And if you see no
. w th at I
was ar o u sed not by a wor d fr om Met ellu s as you r ep
,

r esent it, b u t by h is deliber at e and bitter anim o sity

against myself let me po int o

, u t toyo u my for be ar an ce ,

if ind ier enc e and laxity abo u t r e senting somalicio u s

an attack deser v es th e nam e o f for b ear anc e Never
.

onc e did I speak for any motionattacking yo ur br other ;

whenever any actio nwas taken, I su ppor ted witho ut
8 SELECT LETTER S OF CICERO .

r ising those who seemed most moder ate in their pr o

p osals .I w ill a d d t his too , th at wh a t I o u ght n ot to
have tr ou bled myself abo u t I r egar ded withou t disfavor ,
an d ind eed su ppor ted the p r opo sal that my assailant ,

sin ce he was your br other , sh ould be gr ant ed a bill of

indemnity Thus I have not attacked your br other ,
.

bu t r ep elled his attacks . No r has my attachmm t to

yourself been as light as you say, b u t it is so str ong

that, although deser te d by your attentions, I still enter
tain feelings of fr iendship fo r yo u Evenat this ver y
.

moment this is what I have to say inanswer to your

almost thr eatening letter ; I no t on ly par don yo ur in
dignation, b u t applau d it highly, fo r my o wn feelings
teach me tor emember h ow str ong is th e love between
br o th er s Fr om you I ask that you will b e a similar
.

j g
u d e f or my se n s e of wr on g If I h.a v e b ee n b itte r ly,

cr u elly, and u nr easonably at tacked by one who is dear

to you , I claim th e admissionnot only that I was inthe
r ight n ot to yield, b u t that I might h ave c alled on you ,
and your ar my too , to have aided me in so doin g . I
have always desir ed yo u as my frien d ; I have no w
str iven h ar d to con vince you that I have been a tr u e
friend to you To these sentiments I still adh er e, and
.

as lon g as yo u pe r m i t m e w i ll co n tin u e to r et ain th e m .

I wo uld far r ather for get my r esentment against your

br other fr om love of you thanper mit that r esentment
,

in the smallest d egr ee to impair o ur good will toeach

-

other .

V .
( m
F . V .

Allow me to expr ess my good wishes for th e pr osper

ity of your self and the ar my .

Like ever y o ne else, I der ived unspeakable pleasure

fr om your p u blic dispatch F or you h ave displayed
.

as c omple te a pr o sp ect of p e ace as I always h eld ou t to

all in my r elian ce o n you But I must men

. tionthat
 v .
( FAM v
. .
VI .
( AM v
F . .

those who wer e once you r enemies b u t now your ,

fr iends, ter r ibly stu nned by your dispat ch and distur b ed

in th eir gr eat hop es lie pr o str at e
, A s to you r letter
.

ad dr essed to me , altho u gh it co ntain ed b u t sc an ty

expr essio n s o f yo u r r egar d for me, it was, I assur e yo u ,

mo st welcome ; for in nothing d oI somu ch r ejo ice as

inth e conscio u sness o f du ties p er for med Even if th ey
.

ar e no t du ly r espo nded to , I willingly allow the exc ess

of obligation to b e on my side I have not a do u bt that
.

if my devotion toyo u h as failed to win yo ur r egar d ,

our state will b e a bo nd of sympathy and u nio nbetween

us . Bu t that yo u may kn ow what I felt was wanting
in your lett er , I will wr ite op enly as my o wninc lination
and o ur fr ien dship r equ ir e I have done su ch things
.

that I expected some r eco gnitionof them inyo ur letter ,

both on pu blic gr ou nds and on acc ou nt of ou r per so nal
intimac y . This I su ppo se you omitte d becau se you
fear ed wou nding th e feelings of some one Bu t I assu r e .

y o u th at wh at I di d fo r o ur co u ntr y
s sa f ety has met

with th e appr oval and acknowledgment of th e whole

wor ld When you come you will nd that I acte d with
.

su ch discr etion as well as sp ir it, th at yo u will gladly

allow me, like L wliu s and no ,

t mu ch his infer ior to b e ,

associated in pu blic affair s an d by th e ties of friend ship

with you , a gr eater Scipio th anAfr icanu s .

v1 .
( FAN . v .

Althou gh I had decided to send you noletter except

one of c mmen a
o d t io
n, not bec au se I knew it had
m u ch w eight with yo u , b u t th at I might n ot show to
those who qu estioned me that o ur h ar mon y had been
distur bed ,yet sinc e Atticus, who is well awar e of my
z e alo u s r egar d for yo u , an d is fond of yo u an d devote d
tome, is going toyo u , I feel I mu st wr it e somethin g ,

es ec iall as oth er w ise I c an not satisfy Atticu s him

p y
10 SEL ECT L E TTER S OF CICER O .

sel f .If I should claim even you r high e st ser vices, no

one ought towonder at it ; for I hav e contr ibu ted ever y
thing for you which would b e for you r advantage, honor ,
and po sition That you have made me nor etur n for
.

these favor s, you you r self can best testify ; that even
somethin g th e v er y oppo s ite h a s p r oc e ed e d fr o m o
y , u

I have h ear d fr om many ; for I d onot v entur e to say I

have discov er ed, lest per hap s I may use th e ver y

wor d which th ey say you falsely ascr ibe to me Bu t th e .

th ings which wer e r epo r ted tome I pr efer you to u nder

stand fr o m Atticu s, towhom th e y gav e n oless concer n
than tome, r ather th an to lear n them fr om a letter of
mine How kindly w er e my int entio ns towar d you
.
,

both th e S enate and th e p eople of R ome can bear wit

ness ; h ow gr ateful you h ave been tome, you canyo u r
self j u dge ; h o w mu ch you owe me, other s de cide .

What I did fo r mer ly for your own sake, I br ou ght to

anend thr o u gh go o d will, and nally thr ou gh constancy
-
.

Bu t th e o th er matt er , b elie ve m e needs my z eal, at ,

tention and labo r in gr eater pr opor tion I shall not

,
.

seem tob e thr owing away and w asting my labo r I will ,

bend all my ener gy in that dir ection Bu t if I see that .

th e task is th ankle ss, I shall no t make m yself seem so

absur d toyo u Wh at and of what kind the tr ou ble is,
.

yo u c an le ar n f r o m Att ic us A .n d I s o co mm en d Att i
cu s toyo ur ch ar ge th at, altho u h o n hi ow n a o n t I
g s cc u

am su r e yo u will d oev e r ythin g, y e t I w ill b e g of yo u , if

y ou h a v e an y fr i en d sh ip le ft fo r m e , show it a ll in yo u r

dealings with Atticus Y ou cand ome nogr eater favor

.

than this .

VI I .
( A M . I .

A t changeableness and alter ationof opinionand

gr ea
mind in my br other Qu intu s h as been shownme fr om
you r lett er s in which you sent me copies of his letter s .

SoI felt as mu ch anxiet y as my gr eat r egar d fo r bo th

 v n.
( ATT 1. . 11

of you ought to cause me, and I wonder ed what had

happened to offend my br other Quintus sodeeply o r to

change his feelings soentir ely Now, for some time I

.

have under stood wh at I saw yo u to osu spected onyour

depar tur e fr om u s, that he was nur sing disagr eeable
th ou ghts, and his feelings wer e wou nded and some
un p l ea sa nt s u s pi c ion s h ad s e tt le d i n his m in.d I w ish e d
to soothe his feelings often befor e th e lot for th e pr ov
ince was dr awn, and even mor e str o ngly after it . I
did no t know he was sodeep ly offended as yo ur letter
shows, n or did I goas far as I wish ed Y et I consoled
.

myself with th e thou ght that I had nodou bt of his see

ing yo u in Dyr r hachiu m, o r somewh er e else wh er e yo u

may b e I felt condent , and per su aded myself that

.

whenthe meeting h ad taken place ever ything wo uld b e

amicably settled betweenyo u, n ot by anar gum entative
discu ssion, b u t by th e ver y sight of each oth er as yo u

met For th er e is nor easonwhy I should wr ite to you

.

what you alr ead y know, h ow mu ch kindness my br other

Quintu s has, how mu ch co ur tesy, and how r eady his
h ear t is to r ec eive and for get an offence . Bu t it was
ver y u nfor tu nate that you nowher e saw him ; for what
th e tr icks of c er tainmen impr essed u ponhim c ar r ied
mor e weight with him thandu ty, obligation, or th e love
he u sed tohave fo r yo u , all o f which sho uld h ave availed
mo st with him Bu t whowas toblame for this u nfor
.

tu nate aair I can easier conj ectu r e th an wr it e ; fo r I

fear that, while I am defending my r elatives, I am not

sp ar in g yo ur s , fo r I k now t hi s,
e v en if th e wo u nd h as
no t b een cau sed by member s of th e family, th ey c o uld
cer tainly have cur ed that which existed Bu t the .

blame of the whole matter , which is somewhat mor e

exten sive th an it seems, I will exp lain to yo u at so me

time wh enyou ar e her e As to tho se letter s which h e

.

wr ote you fr om Th essalonica and the r emar k s which

ou thin k h e mad e both at R ome to o ur fr ien d s an d
y y
12 S ELECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

on th e jour ney, I d o not know wh at it was which in

d u c ed him towr ite and sp eak so ,
b u t a ll m y hop e of
c lear in g pu th e m isu nd e r standin g r e st s u po n yo u r fo r

bear anc e Th ese things will easily b e settled, as I

.

hop e, if you h old th at often th e temp er of even th e

be st men ar e r uled and th en sooth ed, and that this
agility, if I may u se th e exp r e ssio n, and p liability of
natu r e is gener ally a mar k of goodness and , what is
m or e toth e p oint, we mu st mu tu ally b ear each oth er s

weaknesses, fau lts, and wr ongs I b eg you to d oso;

.

fo r I , towh o m you ar e esp ec ially de ar , am gr e atly inter

este d th at th er e sh all b e n oone of my fr iends who do es
not c ar e for you , or wh om in tu r n you d onot car e for .

That p ar t of you r lett er was th e least impor tant in

whic h you set for th wh at Oppor t u nities of advantage,
eith er in th e p r o vinces or in th e city, you h ave p asse d
ov er both at o th er times and du r ing my own co nsu l
sh ip ; fo r yo ur sinc er ity an d gr eatness of so ul I h ave
pr ov ed, and I have never consider e d that th er e was any
differ enc e b etw e en u s b u t a differ ent c h oic e of life . A
c er t ain ambitio n imp elled me toseek for honor s, b u t a
mo r e pr aisewor thy aim led you toanh ono r able leisu r e .

I n sincer e pr aise o f yo u r u p r ightness, yo ur diligen c e,

an d your consc ientio u sness, I set n eith er myself no r

any o ne befor e you , and tr u ly I c o ncede toyou th e r st

r an k in r egar d for me after my br other and r e latives .

Fo r I h av e seen ,
I h ave seen and h ave pr ove d thr ou gh
and thr o u gh b o th you r anxiety and joy in my var ied
cir cum stanc es . You r manifestation of joy at pr aise
which I g ain was pleasing tome, and gr at eful was your
symp athy with my an xiety . Bu t no w while you ar e
away fr o m m e I feel th e want , not o nly of th e su p er ior
advice wh ic h yo u giv e m e b u t also th e pleasan
, t talks
which I enj oy so mu c h with you I miss you most
.

wh at shall I say inaair s of state inwhich I may not

'

be r emiss, or inmy wo r k in the c o ur t, a d u t wh i h I

y c
 VI I .
( A TT . I . 13

for mer ly per form ed thr ou gh ambition, and now inor der
to b e able togu ar d my po sitio n with cr edit, or inmy
pr ivate affair s themselves I n th ese matter s, both b e
.

for e and esp ecially after th e dep ar tur e of my br other ,

I miss you and our talks Finally, neith er my wor k
.

no r r e c r eation, my oc cu p ation nor leisur e, m y wor k in

th e c o u r t r o
-
om nor at h ome, my p u blic nor pr ivate
int er ests c an lo
,
nger bear th e want of you r mo st agr ee
able and lo v ing advice and co nfer ence Oft en d ith
.

dence for bade u s both to mention the se things ; b u t

now it is nec essar y b ecau se of that p ar t of your lett er
in which yo u wish ed toexcus e an d j u st ify your self and
you r condu ct And in this estr angement and offence
.

which he h as taken against you th er e is this satisfac

tio n that both I and you r other fr iends knew that you
,

h ad at t imes declar ed yo u r wish tor efu se th e go v er n

ment of a p r ovinc e so th at if you ar e not togeth er it
,

may se em tob e not thr ou gh any disagr eement or v ar i

anc e o n you r side b u t by yo
,
ur o wnwill and j u dgment .

S oth e br each will b e he ale d and o ur fr ien dship which ,

h as be en mo st tende r ly p r e ser v e d, will k eep its sacr ed

ness We live in this r epu blic, weak, wr etch ed, and

.

su bj ec t toch an g ;
e fo r I th in k y o u h av e h e ar d t h at ou r

knight s have near ly beendivided fr om th e Senat e ; th ey

r st wer e ver y mu ch tr ou bled that it had b eenannou nc ed
by a decr ee of th e Senate that inqu ir y would b e mad e
abou t tho se wh oh ad acc epte d pay fo r j u dgmen t In .

th e decision of th e matt er , since I h ad h app ened not to

b e pr esent and had u nd er sto od that th e knights wer e
angr y and did no t sp eak Op enly, I r ebu ke d th e S enat e
as I thought be st , with th e gr eatest au tho r ity, and I
spoke with some dign ity and elabor atio nin a matt er of
su ch impor tan ce . Her e is anoth er beau tifu l instance
of the condu ct of th e knights which , intoler able as it
,

is, I hav e no t o nly endu r e d b u t d efended

,
Tho se wh o
.

far med ou t A sia fr om th e c ensor s complained in th e

14 S ELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

S enate that they h ad failed in th eir exp ectations and

had taken th e c o ntr act at to o high a p r ic e The y
.

demanded that th e c ontr act b e annu lled I was leader .

amon g th e ir s u ppo r te r s,
or r a th e r se co nd ,
fo r C r assu s

moved th em to dar e todemand this The matt er was .

odiou s, th e demand disgr acefu l and anacknowledgment

of imp r u d ence .Ther e was th e gr eatest danger that if
they sho u ld obtain nothing they wo uld b e completely
estr anged fr o m th e S enate ; I indeed help ed th e matter
on and br ou ght it abou t that they fou nd th e S enate ,

which was assembled with a full attendance, most

kindly disp ose d to them On the r st of Dec ember
.

and th e d ay aft er , I spok e at length abo u t the dign ity

and har mony o f th e classes . Up toth is time, th e mat
ter has not b een c onclu de d b u t th e willingness of th e
,

S enate has b e en p er c eive d .One man, Mete llu s, th e

c on su l elect spo
-
,
k e on th e o th er side Th at fr iend of
.

ou r s Cato , was going tosp eak, b u t he had no oppor

,

tu nity as th e d ay was ne ar its clo se

, . Thu s, while I
pr eser ve my own method and policy I defend as I can ,

th e h ar mo ny which I have secu r e d . Never theless ,

sinc e tho se tie s of yo ur s ar e weak, I am gu ar d ing a

way which I hop e is safe tomaintainmy pr op er ty Th e .

method is one which I c annot satisfacto r ily exp lain to

y o u in w r iting, y e t I w i ll g iv e y o u a slig ht h int of it .

I am on th e b est of ter ms with P ompey I see wha .

'

y o u w ill s ay ; I w i ll b e a s c au t io u s a s I ou g ht and ,
I
will wr ite anoth er letter to you abo u t my plans for
un der taking mor e of the r esponsibilities of th e st ate .

I mu st tell you that L u cc eiu s intends at onc e toapply

fo r the c o nsulsh ip, for it is said that only twoar e c andi
dates for it Cmsar thinks of u niting with him thr ou gh
.

Ar r iu s, and Bibu lu s thinks he can b e joined with him

thr ou gh Caiu s Piso Y ou smile ? Th ese th ings ar e not
.

lau gh ing matt er s b eliev e me

,
What else sh all I wr ite
.

y o u ? W h y, th er e a r e m a n y th in g ;
s b u t if yo u ar e wi ll .
 VII .
(A TT I
. .
V I I I .
( A TT I
. . 15

ing to wait to hear of them till another time, le t me

know .Now, inoppor tu nely I ask that whic h I espe
cially wish, that you come as soon as you can Dec em .

her 5 .

VII I .
( AM . I .

I must tell you th at I lack nothin somu ch as some

g
one with whom to disc u ss what ever tr ou bles me, who
will love me, whowill b e discr eet, with whom I may
speak fr o m my hear t, an d need neith er pr etend, hide,
nor conc eal anything For my most blameless and
.

loving br other is away Metellu s is noman, o

. nly ear th
an d air and nothing b u t solitu d e Bu t you , wh oso

oftenby your cou nsel and advice lightened my tr ou ble

and anxiety of mind, in pu blic aair s my aid , in all

pr iv ate affair s my condant , and s h ar er in all m y dis

eu ssion s an d plans, where ar e yo u ? I am so for saken

by all, that I have only as mu ch r epose as I nd with
my wife and little dau ghte r dar ling Cic er o
and For .

these hollow fr iendships of politic s have a c er tain show

an d glitter exter nally ; domestic enjoyment th ey do no t
b r ing . Sowhenmy hou se is lled with visitor s in th e
mor ning, when attended by number s of my friends I
g o to th e For u m,
I can fr o m all th e c r owd nd no one

with whom I canbe on easy t er ms or into who se ear I

c anbr eath e a sigh SoI wait fo
. r yo u , I wan t to see
ou
y , I ev en su m m o n yo u ; for th er e ar e many th ings

which tr ou ble me and make me anxiou s I think if I .

cou ld pour these intoyour ear s, I c o uld be r id of th em

dur ing the conver sationof a single walk All the stings .

and pr icks of family c ar es I will hide, and will no t co m

mit them to this letter and to some unknown lett er
car r ie B u t th ey for I do n ot wish you tob e anxiou s

r .

ar e n ot ver y tr ou blesome yet they do exist and they

,

wor r y me, and ar e not qu ie te d by the advice and con

ver sationof any loving fr ie nd T r u ly in th e r epu blic,
.
16 SEL ECT L ETTER S OF CI CERO .

al thou gh my mind is bold, ye t my r eadiness itself

r e peat edly fails m e Fo .r ,
th at br ie y I may mention
those things whic h wer e d one afte r you r dep ar tur e,
now you mu st b e impr essed th at the R oman state can
not be per manent As I think after yo
.
, u left, th e sto r y

of Clo d ius made its r st en tr ance I n this having

.

fo u nd as I thou ght, a plac e for c u tting off lust and

,

r estr ain ing the yo u th , I eager ly exer ted all the power s
of my hear t and mind, not le d by p ersonal hatr ed of
any o ne b u t by th e hOpe of imp r oving and co
, rr ectin g
the state The r epu blic was disor d er ed by th e j u dg es
.

who se vote s had b een pur c hased by d eb au ch er y . Se e

what were th e consequ ences ; a c onsu l was foisted u pon
u s su ch th at n oone exc ept tho se of us who wer e philo
sophic al co u ld look o n him withou t a sigh What a.

plagu e is this ! Altho ugh th er e h ad been a d ecr ee of

th e Sen at e abo u t br iber y, abo u t vot es no law was
,

passed, th e Senate was deter r ed fr om its pr opo sed

measur es, the R omanknight s wer e estr anged Sothat .

year pulled down the two su ppor t s of th e r epu blic

which I established by my owneffor ts ; for it over thr ew
the au thor ity of the S enate, and destr oy ed th e har mony
of the classes Now this glor iou s year is at hand ! I ts
.

beginning was su ch that th e annu al rite s of Ju v entas

were not celebr ated, for Memmius initiat ed th e wife of
Mar cus L u c ullu s with his own rites Menelau s, mu ch
.

inc ensed divor c ed h er ; althou gh th e o th er sh eph er d of

,

I da insu lt ed Menelau s alone, this P ar is of ou r s did no t

d eem Menelau s less a fr eedman th an Agamemnon .

Ther e is mor eover Caiu s Her eu u iu s, a tr ibu ne of th e

p pe o le , who m y ou p er h a p s d on o t ev enk now a ltho u g h
yo u may kn ow him, for h e is of your tribe, and his
father Sextu s u sed to div ide coins among you r tr ibes
menh e is tr ying to tr ansfer Pu bliu s Clodiu s to the
commo n p eople, and h e makes th e whole p eop le vote
 v m .
( ATT I
. . 17

on the Campu s Mar tins abou t th e affair of Clodiu s I .

h ave r ec eived him in the S enate as I am acc usto me d,

b u t nothing is mor e nu c o neem ed thanthat man Metel .

lus is a r emar kable co nsul and is devot e d to me ; b u t

h e endanger s h is au tho r ity in having pr opo sed fo r th e

sake o f appear ance s the same measur e abou t Clo diu s .

A nd th e so n of Aulu s, O immor tal gods ! how ignor ant

and spir itle ss a so ldier h e is h o w deser ving to expo se
h imself as h e doe s daily to th e c ensur e of P alicau ns !
And an Agr ar ian law has be en pr oposed by Flavins ,

ill c onsider ed, and abo u t th e same as the P lo

- tian law .

Bu t a r eal state sman, o r a gho st of o ne, cannot b e fou nd:

Th e r eal st ate sman, P ompey, my fr iendfo r su ch he

is as I wish yo
,
u to kn owis gu ar ding his r obe of tr iumph
in silenc e .Cr assu s says no t a wor d against his p0pu
lar ity. Now you know oth er s wh oar e so foolish, that
th e y seem to hop e in th e r u in of the state that their
own sh ponds will b e saved
-
.Th er e is one who pr o
tec ts it, as it seems, mor e by diligence and u pr ightness
than by for esight and intelligence, Cato , who has been
wor r ying for thr ee month s th e wr etched far mer s of the
r e v enu e who hav e b een adh er en ts of his He d oes not
.

allow a r eply tob e given th em by th e S en ate ; so we

ar e c omp elle d to make n o fu r th er decision befor e a
r eply is made to th ese r ev en u e far mer s
-
Ther efor e I
.

think th e embassies will b e pu t off N ow you see on

.

what waves we ar e to ssed, and if you p er ceive some

things I h ave omitted in r egar d to th e matter s abou t
which I have wr itt en somu ch, come back to me at last ,

and althou gh these tr o u bles towhich I call yo u ar e to

b e avo ided, nev er th eless see that yo u v alu e my love

so mu c h that yo u wish to en joy it even with these

hindr anc es ; fo r that yo u may no t b e r egister ed inyo ur
absenc e, I will see that yo u r coming is an nou nc ed
ever ywh er e ; fo r it is th e mar k o f a good bu siness man
18 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

to be register ed in th ec ensus So take car e that I.

shall see you as so

o nas po ssible Far ewell Janu ar y . .

22, in the consulship of Quintus Metellus and Lu c ius

IX .
( AM . I .

Not only if I had as mu ch leisur e as you have, b u t

to o if I wer e willing to send as shor t letter s as you
usu ally d o , I wo u ld ea s ily e xc ee d y o u an d wo u ld w r it e

mu ch mor e fr equ ently th anyou ; b u t, inadditiontomy

un p ar all ele d an d la bo r io u s p ur su i t s , I a m no t willin g
that any lett er of mine should go to you withou t th e
mate r ial and expre ssion of thou ght And . r st I will

tell you, as it is r ight for a lover of his countr y, what

is the conditionof th e state ; then, sinc e we ar e clo sely
r elated in bon ds of affection, I will wr ite of my own
affairs what I am sur e yo u will n ot be loath to hear .

Th er e is in the r epu blic now espec ially a fear of a war

with Gau l ; for the E dui, our allies, ar e ghting, th e
Seq u ani h ave fought badly, and the Helvetii with ou t
do u bt ar e inar ms and are invading th e pr ovinc e Th e .

Senate d ecr eed that the consuls shou ld choo se twodi

visions of Gau l by lot, that tr 00ps sho uld b e levied , no
exemptio ns sho u ld b e allow ed , and legate s sho u ld b e
sen t with au thor ity togo to the states of Gau l and do
their best not to have them ally themselves with th e
Helvetii The legates ar e Quintus Met ellu s Cr eticu s
.

and Lu c iu s Flaccn s an d, p ains thr own away, L entu lu s,

the so n of Clodiau u s And her e I must not omit to tell
.

y o u th a t wh en th e lo t f el l to m e r s t of th e me n of c on
sular r an k, the Senate over and over u nanimo u sly
declar ed I must be kept in th e city ; the same thing
aft er war ds happened to P omp ey so we two seemed ,

kept as it wer e as pledges for the r epu blic Why .

sho u ld I hop e fo r ad d e d pr aises of oth er s, wh en th ese

arise at home ? S u ch is the state of aair s in th e city .

 I X ( ATT l 19
'

. . .

Th e Agr ar ian law is str ongly pr essed by Flaviu s, the

tr ib u ne o f the p e op le, o n th e motion of P o mp ey, a law
whic h has nothing attr ac tive to the people bu t its pr o
po ser With the consent of the assembly I exclu d ed
.

fr om th e bill all those measur es which tend ed to th e

inc onvenience of pr ivate citiz ens ; I exempted th e land
which was pu blic pr oper ty in th e consulship of P ubliu s
Mu cins and L u ciu s Calpnr niu s I u pheld the posses.

sion s of th e men of S u lla s par ty

I allowed the menof
.

Vo later r aaand Ar etiu m to r emain in po ssession of th e

land which Su lla had con sc ate d and had n ot divided ;
I did not r emove the measu r e to b u y land with that
money whic h accr u es fr om new taxes dur ing v e year s .

To this who le Agr ar ian movement th e Senate was 0p

p o s e d ,
su sp e c ti n g th a t P o m p e y w a s se eki ng som e n e w
p ow e r ; P om p e y in tr u th h a d in c l n
i e d to th e d es ir e of
c ar r ying ou t th e law ; I mor e over , with the ear nest su p
p o r t of tho se who f a vo r e d th e A g r a r ian la w m a d e th e

,

p o ssess io n s of a ll p r iv at e m e n s e c u r e f o r o ur ar my, as

y o u too k n ow ,
is c o m p r ise d o f m en r ich in la n d s I
satis ed th e p eople an d P ompey anend which I desir ed,
,

by bu ying the land By th e accomplishment of this I

.

thou ght th e dr egs of the city wou ld b e dr awn o and

,

th e desolate par t s of Italy be lled . Bu t this whole

movement was br oke nu p and inter r u pted by th e war .

Metellu s is a fair ly good c onsul and r easonably devoted

to my inter ests ; that other one is of so little ac count
that h e clear ly do es no t know wh at he h as bo u ght.

This is the condition of th e stat e, u nless you think this

also concer ns th e stat e that a c er tainHer en nins tr ibune
,

of the people one of you r tr ibe , a manr eally wor thless

,

and needy h as oftenno

,
w begunto act abou t th e tr ans
fer ence of P ubliu s Clodine toth e commonpeople ; ther e
is mu ch opposition to him . So mu ch as I th ink fo r

th e r epu blic . Mor eover , as I gained once for all on

that fth of Dec ember an extr aor dinar y and immor tal
 IX .
( ATT I . . 21

as it wer e th e for m of my p urpo se and life Y ou often

.

wr ite me abou t your aair s, which I cannot now aid ;

'

fo r th at measur e of th e S en ate is in accord an ce with

th e desir e of th e lowest r ank of senator s, and by the
au t hority of noo ne of u s ; for that you saw I was pr es
,

en t at the dr awing u p of the bill, fr om that ver y decr ee

of the Senate you canknow a dier ent matter was pr o
posed This, ho wever , abo u t the fr eedmenwas add ed
.

withou t r eason, and was so done by P ubliu s Ser viliu s

the younger , who was among the last to exp r ess his
opinion, bu t c annot be alter ed at this time . So th e
meetings which at r st w er e cr owde d, nally ceased
altoge ther If you get by you r atte r ies any coins
.

fr om th e Sicyonians, I wish you would let me kno w I .

se n t you a histor y of my c onsulship wr itten inGr eek .

If ther e is in it anything which seems not the best

Gr eek and lear ned , I shall no t say what as I think
L u cullu s said at P anor mu s of his o wn histor ies, that
h e had scatte r ed in cer tain r u de and u ncou th expres
sion s, in o r d er to pr ove mor e easily that th ey wer e the

wor k of a R oman If there is anything of that kind in

.

my wor k, it is the r esu lt of my car elessness and over

sight . If I nish th e histor y of L atiu m, I will send
it to yo u .Be o n th e watc h for a po em fo r the thir d

th ing sothat I may not lack that kind of self pr aise

,
-
.

Do nt say h er e, Wh ohis fath er sh all pr aise, for if

ther e is anything among men which is su per ior , let it

b e pr aised L et me b e despised inno
. t r ath er pr aising
other things ; althou gh what I wr ite is not panegyr
ical b u t histor ical
, . My br oth er Quintu s exc uses him
self to me by letter an d says that he has no t said
anything d etr imen tal abou t you to any one ; in fact ,
these things must be tr eate d face to fac e with
g r e at c a r e an d di scr e tion .On ly co me ag ain . Th is

Cossinius to who m I h ave given this lett er is inmy se

timstio u an exceedin l good fellow, an
gy d se em s tr ust
22 S ELECT LETTER S OF CI CER O .

wor thy and fond of you , and su ch as your letter to

me indicated him to b e Mar ch 15 . .

X . II .

On th e r st of June, as I was star tin g for An tiu m ,

d was ver y glad to be o u t of th e way of Me tellus s

an
exhibition of gladiator s, I met your messen ger H e .

av e m a let ter fr om you , an d a memo ir of my consu l

g e

shi p wr ittenin Gr eek ; whereu pon, I congr atu lated my

self that lon b e fo r e this I had giv eu Co ssin ius my
g
treatise on the same su bj ect, also in Gr eek, to take to
o b c a se h a d I r ea d yo ur s r st yo u wo uld b e acc u s ~
y u ; e u

ing me of having pilfer e d fr om yo u And yet you r

.

notes fo r I read th em with delight did seem to me

p e r h ap s a t r i e r ou gh an d un a d orn ed, b u t still no t wi th
ou t a cer tainattr activeness, fr om th eir ver y r efu sal of

borr owe d attr actions, and , as th ey say of women, all
the sweet er fr om h aving no add ed sweets

. Wher eas
my book, besides exhau sting I socr ate s s dr essing c ase -
,

an d all the r o u ge pot s o

-
f his school, h ad a to u ch of .

Ar istotle s color ing as well Y ou dipp ed hastily into it

.

( as I u n d e r st an d f r o m a n oth er lett er of yo u r s ) a t C or

cyr a, b u t after war ds, I su ppo se, h ad a copy sent you

thr ou gh Cossiniu s I should not have ventur ed to
.

sen d it toyou unless I h ad fou nd leisur e to r evise it

minu tely and cr itically And yet the answer I have
.

j ust had fr om P osidoniu s at R hod es is that onr eading

the m! mo ir e I sent him th at he might wr ite mor e elabo
r ately o n the same theme, sofar fr om nding himself
mor e dispo sed to wr ite, he has been fair ly disc o ur aged .

Th e fact is that I h ave taken th e Gr eek pop ulation

,

u tte r ly aback sothat fo

, r th e mo st p ar t tho se who wer e

ver y pr essing for me togive them notes to elabor at e ,

have not desisted fr om per secu ting me Will you b e .

g ood en o u h, if yo
g u li k e th e b o ok ,
t o ta ke c a r e th at it
 x (ATT
. . u . 23

makes its way toAthens and the other town s of Gr eec e,

b ecau se I thin k it may po ssibly thr ow some light o n

my whole policy ! As fo r my speechlets,

su ch as

they ar e, I will send tho se yo u ask fo r , an d some other s

too , sinc e what I pu t into wr iting fr om interest in the
e mulation of so me lads, can give pleasure to you too .

J u st as your co untryman, Demosthenes, gained lustr e

by his ser ies of speeches which we call P hilippics, and
detached himself fr om our quibbling style of pleading
in th e cour ts in favor of th e higher mile of the ho mmc
d c ta t, soit suite d my pu r pose topr epar e a similar co l

lectionof my o wn, tob e entitled Consular Speeches .

One of these was d eliver ed inth e Senate o n the r st of

Januar y ; the second was an addr ess to the pe ople on

the Agr ar ian law ; th e thir d is o n Oth o ; the four th my
d efenc e of Bahir ine ; th e fth ab ou t the sons of per sons
p r o scr ib ed ; t h e sixth is m yp u blic r e n u n c ia tio n of th e

r ight to a pr ovinc e ; the seven th is the one by which I

dr ove Catiline fr om the city ; the eighth I addr essed to
the people th e day aft er his ight ; the ninth was de
livered in the assembly o nthe day wh enthe Allobr oges
made th eir appeal ; and th e tenth inthe Senate on the
fth of December Ther e ar e besides two shor t ones,
.

fr agments, if I may socall them, of th e Agr ar ianlaw .

This whole c ollection I will take car e that you have ;

and since yo u feel in t er ested not only in my wr itings
b u t my actions, yo u will nd in th ese speec hes a fu ll
acco unt of w hat I have been d oing as well as what I
have been saying . Oth er wise yo u sho uld n ot have
asked fo r th em ; it was n ot I, yo u kn ow, who tr ied to
thr ust myself u pon you Y ou ask me why I wr ite for
.

yo u to come her e, an d saying at the same time that

y o u a r e m u ch h ind er ed by b u si ness ,
tho u h
g y ou d o n ot
r efuse to come if it b e r eally n ec essar y, o r even if I
'

desir e it Well, the tr u th is that ther e is nopo sitiv e

.

nec essity; b u t still it did seem tome that you might

24 SELECT LETT ERS OF CICERO .

ar r a nge th e time for your var io us to ur s abr o ad mor e

c on veniently Y ou ar e too long away at a time, espe
.

cially con sid er in g th a t y o u a r e r e ally n ea r ; and sowhile

I miss your companionship, you have to do with ou t me .

And though j ust no w, it is tru e, all is quiet, yet if the

madness of that pretty you th wer e allowed togobu t a
step o r twofur th er , I shou ld most d ecidedly summ on

y o u fr om yo u r r e tr e at. H e,
f or the matter of that, is
a c on sul who r eally lov es his cou n tr y, and , as I have
always h eld, is n atur ally well dispo sed . That other
per sonage is aiming however , not inbr avado bu t qu ite
, ,

ser iously, at bein g el e ct e d tr ib u n e of th e p eo ple . W h en

this qu estion was br ou ght onfor disc u ssionin the S en
ate I smashed th e fellow, se ver ely expo sin g hi s su dd en
conver sion inbecoming a candidate for th e tr ibuneship ,

wher eas in Sicily h e h ad fr equ ently stated that his

obj ect was the se dileship ; not that we, I r emar ked,
nee d to tr o u ble our selves over mu ch ; he might become
a plebeian, bu t he wou ld nomor e b e allow ed tobr in g
us to ru in than the p atr ic ians of his typ e h ad been
allowed in my con su lsh ip . S o again, wh en th e same
p e r son a ge d ec la r e d h e h ad tr a v elle d h er e in s ix d ay s
from the ch an nel, leaving no one time as mu ch as to
c ome o u t an d meet him, and that he had made his entr y
by night, and had b oaste d of this in the Senate I r e ,

to r te d that fo r him it was n osu ch u nh ear d of thing to

-

tr avel to Rome fr om Sicily in six days ; within thr ee

hou r s h e h ad passed the distance betwe en Inter amna
an d R ome . He had enter ed inth e night as befor e ; no
one had come tomeet him evenwhen th ere was good
r easo n fo r d oin g s o
. I n a w o r
,
d I a m g iv in g hi s ins o
lenc e a goo d lesso n, no t mer ely by ser iou s and elabor ate
spe ech es b u t by this kin
,
d of r epar tee So now I use
.

a to ne of b ant er ing familiar ity with him to his face .

Onc e even, wh en we wer e escor ting o ur candidate

home, he asked me if I u su ally r eserved my Sic ilian
 x (ATT
. . u . 25

c lie nts a plac e at the games ; I said, N0 . We ll th en,

said h e,

I being th eir new patr on, shall star t the idea,
tho ugh my sister , who h as so mu c h of the consu l s

sp ac e at her dispo sal, on ly allow s me j u st o ne foot.

Dono t, said I,

complain of your sister giving you
only one fo ot ; I am sur e she would let you take mor e
than a foot fr om h er
Not the r etor t for a consu l you
.
,

will say I plead guilty, b u t I cannot stand that woman

.
,

sou n t as she is to b e a c onsul s wife For she is so

.

qu ar r elsome she is at d aggers dr awnwith h er hu sband,

,
-

not only with Metellu s, bu t Fabiu s too, becau se sh e is

sodispleased that th ey ar e fr ien dly to me As for the
.

A gr ar ian law abou t which you ask me, as a matter of

fac t , it seems now to have cooled d own Sinc e you .

le ctu r e me tho u gh you r handling seems ver y gentle,

,

abo u t my in timacy with P ompey, I shou ld not like you

to imagine that I ally myself tohim only tosecu r e my
own pr otection; b u t things wer e socirc u mstanc ed, that
if ther e chanced to b e any disagr eement betweenu s,
most ser ious par ty dissensions must have become pr ev
alent . Now I h ave guar ded against the danger befor e
h and with all this pr ecau tion, not at all that I myself
may begin to decline fr om those high pr inciples of
p o licy ,
b u t th at h e m ay b e inc lined tobe tte r t hin g ,
s and
to lay aside mu ch of his weak, popular su bser viency .

And yo u sho uld kn ow th at h e speaks in far h igher

ter ms of my policy, which somany people wer e ur ging
him to attack, th an of his o wn; what h e claims for
himself is that h e has guar d ed th e stat e, fo r me that I

have saved it How far his d oing this is anadvantage

.

to me I cannot tell ; u nqu estionably it is anadv antage

toth e cou ntr y Su pposing I br ing over Owsar too, who
.

is now sailing tr iu mphau tly befor e th e breeze, to th e

bette r sid e, am I thengr eatly inj ur ing th e constitu tional
cau se ? Even if noone wer e j ealou s of me, even if all
su ppor ted me as th ey ou ght tod o ,
we o u gh t n o ne th e
26 S EL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

le ss to ad e p t any s s em y t of tr eatment which wou ld

heal th e u nsou nd member s of the state in pr efer enc e
too ne which wou ld cu t them o Bu t now, whenall .

ou r ch ivalr y, all the menwhom once I po ste d o n th e

slop es o f the Cap ito l u nder your standar d, have left th e
S enat e toght alone ; wh en o ur n obles think they have
all b u t r each e d th e skies if th ey h av e r ed mu llet inthe ir
sh pond s that will come tob e fed , and deem ever ything
-

else tr iin g in c o m p a r is o n,
d o y o u n o t th in k I am do in g
c on sider able ser vice if I su c ceed in takin g t h e w ill fo r

mischief fr om tho se wh o h ave th e power ? N ot that

y o u yo ur se lf c an lov e C ato m o r e th an I do ,
b u t s t ill a t
times, and with th e ver y be st intentions and th e mo st
stain less honor , h e do es po sitive har m tohis co u ntr y ;
fo r he talk s as if he w er e livin g in Pl a t o s

s t at e , an d
not as we ar e, inth e R ogu e s Asylu m of R omu lu s What

.

c an b e fair er th an that a man sho u ld b e br ou ght to

tr ial wh oh as taken a br ibe to per v er t j u dgment ? So

u r ge d Cato , a n d th n
e S e at e assen ted Re sult a war of
.

th e middle class against th e S enat e ; no t against me,
fo r I exp r e ssed my dissen t What mor e ou tr ageou s
.

than th e tax gather er s r epu diating their contr act ? Y et

-

th e lo ss sho u ld h av e b een su stained soas tor etain th e

g o od w
-
ill o f th at c la s s. Ca to fo u ght ag ain s t th i s an d
c ar ried his po i nt, th e consequ enc e being new that, with
a c onsu l ung into pr ison, and with seditio us move
ments stir r ing againand again, not one wou ld give u s a
g ood w is h o f t h e v e r y m en by who se r e a d in e ss to r al ly
ar o und u s both I and the c onsu ls who follow ed me
always defend ed th e state
. Wh at, then, you will

say, ar e we tob u y th e su ppor t o f you r friends ? Wh at

must we d o if we cannot h elp our selves ? Ar e we to
b e at th e beck o f fr eedmen, ay and of slaves ?,

Bu t ,

as yo u say, en ou gh of the ser iou s Favoniu s has car

.

r ied my tr ibe with mo r e yin g c ol or s th a n hi s ow n ,

b u t
 x (A TT . . 11
. 27

has lo st L u cceiu s s He h as pr o secu ted Nasica, and

.

str aightfo r war dly enough, it is tr u e, bu t gr inding his

wor ds in su ch a way that one would fancy th at when
at R h odes he had togr ind in some mill that was not
Molons mill To me, for h aving u nder taken th e d e

.

fenc e, h e was mildly r epr oachfu l Bu t now h e is again

.

a an
c did t
a e only for th e pu blic good ! Wh at L u cceiu s
is abou t I will let yo u kn o w as soon as I have se en
Caesar , wh owill b e h er e in a co u ple of days . Fo r the

S icyonians keeping yo u o ut o f you r d u e yo u m ay than k

Cato and S er vilius, wh oape s him Well, do es not that
.

blow tou ch many a good citiz en! Howev er , th e Senate

h as sopleased , th er efo r e let u s assent : only th en let
u s b e left alon e in an y fu t u r e div isi o n of op i n io n. M y
Am alth ea is awaiting yo u an d mu ch want s your advice .

I am char med with my plac es at T u sc ulu m and P omp eii ,

except that I nd ( I, who am th e champ ionof cr editor s

ho w th ey swallo w u p loads of good metal, not somu ch
in Cor inthian b r onz e as in th e hu mbler mediu m o f th e
exc han ge . W e ha ve h e p e s th at a ll is qu ie t in G au l .

Yo u may exp ect my boo k o n P r ognostics almo st

immediately, with a few sp eech es : b u t d owr ite wh at
ar e you r inte n tions abou t c oming for P omponia desir ed
,

a me ssage tob e sent to me that yo u wou ld b e at R ome

in Ju ly, which doe s no t agr ee with th e letter yo u sen t

me abou t your r ents P wtns, as I told you befor e h as
.
,

g iv en m e th e boo ks h e b eli e v es hi s br oth er h as le f t .

Whether I ever get this pr esent depend s now on your

looking after it . I implor e you tosee that th ey ar e
kept safe and br ou ght tome ; nothing cou ld oblige me
mor e than th is ; and will you b e car eful to keep his
Gr eek books, and still mor e p ar ticular ly his L atinones ?
This I will consider to be your contr ibu tion I have .

wr ittento Octaviu s I did not sp eak toh im p er sonally ;

.

ind eed I did no t know that you r bu siness h ad anyth ing

28 S EL ECT LETT ER S OF CICER O .

tod owith th e pr ovince, nor did I ventur e toclass you

among th e p altr ier tr ibe th at br eed of bar r enmetal ;
,

b u t I have wr it ten to him, as in du ty bou nd, ver y

str o n l
gy .

XI . H
.

I am inde ed and have been for some time desir ou s

, ,

of visiting Alexandr ia and th e r est of Egypt, and at

th e same time to le ave th e men wh ohave gr o wn tir ed
of me, and tor etu r n wh en they wish for me ; b u t now
and with the se men to send m e,

I fear the Tr oj ans
and th e tr ailing r ob ed T r o
-
ja n wo m e n
.F o r wh a t w ill
ou r best men, if any ar e left, say? That I h ave changed
my op inion for a r ew ar d ?
Po lyd amas will b e th e
r st toc ast r epr oach on me, my fr iend Cato, wh ois to

m e one of a hu ndr ed thou sand Wh at t r uly will histor y

.

say of m e six hu ndr e d y ear s fr om n ow? Th at is a j u dg

ment I r ev er enc e m u c h m or e than the go ssip of the
men of tod ay Bu t su ppo se I w ait and se e ; for if th e
-
.

mission is o ffer ed, I shall h ave a c er tain power , and

th en will c onsid er it ; fo r th er e is tr uly some ho n or in
not accepting ; so, if Th eophanes sounds yo u o n th e
su bj ec t, d ono t wh olly r efu se it fo r me I am waiting
.

fo r wor d fr o m you abou t matter s wh er e you ar e ; wh at

Ar r iu s says, h ow h e b ear s his deser tio n, and what con
su ls ar e p r e p ose d, wh e th er , as is co mm o nt alk, P o mp ey
and Cr assu s, o r , as is wr itt en ,
S e r viu s S u l p ici u s with

Gab iniu s, o r wh eth er th er e ar e an y n e w la w s,

o r an y
new s at all, and since N ep os is go ne, towh om th e o fc e
of au gu r is given Tothat oic e alone these m enc ou ld
.

t empt me Y ou see my changeableness Bu t why d oI

. .

inqu ir e abou t th ese things ? I wish tolay th ese m att er s

all asid e and d e vo te my whole thou ght and att ention
t o philo so phy This, I say is in my mind ; I wish it
.
,

h ad b e en fr o m th e b eginning ; now, in tr u th sinc e ,

Wh at I su pposed tob e glor iou s I h ave fou nd tob e ho l

 XI .
( A TT 11 5 . . .
-
x11 ( A TT
. . 11
. 29

low, I intend to pay c our t to all the Mu ses Y et he .

sur e to wr ite me abo u t Cur tiu s, wh eth er an y o ne i s

pr opo sed in his place, and what b ecomes of P u bliu s

Clo diu s . A s you pr omised, wr ite ever yth ing a t yo u r

leisu r e
. I wish you let me kno w th e d ay wh en you
think you will leave R ome, that I may send you wor d
wher e I shall b e and you may at once wr ite of the
,

matter s of wh ich I h ave wr ittenyou , for I e ager ly aw ait

yo u r le tter s .

xu .
(AM . u .

I n r egar d to the pr omise I made you in a pr eviou s

letter th at some wo r k wo uld r e su lt fr om this jou r ney ,

I cannot po sitively state anything ; for I am soattach ed

to leisu r e th at I c anno t b e to r n fr om it ; so I either
r e v el in b o ok s a deligh tfu l qu antity of which I have at
,

An t iu m ,
o r I c ou nt th e w v
a es for th e sto r my w e ath er

is not su itable fo r c atc hin g sh My mind shr inks .

fr om wr iting F or geogr aphy which I had det er mined

.
,

u po n, is a gr eat t ask ; Er ato sth enes, wh o m I had taken

as a model, is soh ar shly cr iticise d by S e r apio an d Hip
p a r c h u s .W h at d o y ou th ink,
if Ty r ann ie is ag r ee d
with th em ? And in fact th e phenomena ar e har d to
exp lain and th ey ar e monotonou s an
, d cannot b e wr itten
in as or nament al a style as I th o u gh t Th e princip al .

point is I have a r eason sufciently c ogent for aban

,

doning th e p lan, as I am u ncer tainwh eth er I shall set tle

down at Antiu m and h er e sp end all this time, wher e I
shou ld p r efer to b e magistr at e, th an at R o me Y ou .

wer e tr u ly mor e wise in making your self a home at

Bu thr o tu m Bu t b eliev e me this stat e of A ntiu m is
.
,

ver y lik e that town S h ould you su pp ose ther e was a

.

plac e so near R ome wh er e th er e ar e m any who never

saw V atin iu s ? Wh er e I am th e o nly m an wh owishes
any o ne of th e twenty c ommissio ner s alive and well ?
Wh er e no one distu r b s me and all love me ? Her e,
30 S ELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

her e, let me b e a statesman; for wher e you ar e liv ing I

not only may b e one, b u t I gr ow wear y of it So the .

anec dot es in th e style of Th eo po m p ,

u s or e v en mu c h
mor e biting, which we r ead together , co mfor t me N ow .

I have no other pu blic o ccu pation than to h ate th e

wicked, and that toonot with any irr itation, b u t with a
c er tain p le asu r e in wr iting Bu t to th e point : I h ave
.

wr itt en to th e qu estor s of th e city abo u t th e affair of

my br o th er Q u int u s ; see what the y say, what hop e
ther e is of the d enar ii, or wheth er we mu st langu ish on
P omp ey s cistophoru s

Mor eover , decide what mu st
.

b e done abo u t the wall I s th er e anything else I h ad

.

to say? Y es L et me know wh enyo u in

. tend to set
ou t on you r jo ur ney .

XIII .
( ATT 11
. .

I assu r e you , I se em act u ally banish ed since b eing at

For mica ; fo r th er e was n ot a d ay while I was at Antium
when I did not know b ett er what was going onat R ome
than th e men wh o wer e in R ome For yo ur letters .

show ed wh at was goin g o n,

no t on ly a t R om e,
b u t also
in th e w h ole stat e and no t mer ely th e condition o
, f
f
a af ir s,
b u t w h a t w as go ing t o h app en n o w I c an
know no thing exc ept what I can lear n fr om a p assing
tr aveller S o, altho ug h I look fo
. r yo u r co min g y g
, e t iv e

toth e m essenger whom I h ave to ld to c ome bac k tome

,

immediately, a heav y letter , lle d no t only with ev er y

thing which h as b eendo ne b u t also yo u r opin ,
ions Be .

su r e tolet me kn ow th e day wh en you will leave R ome .

I intend tob e at For miae till th e sixth of May ; if you

have not come b efor e th en, per h ap s I shall see you at
Ro e m . Why shou ld I invite you toAr pinum ? R ou gh,

b u t a good nur se no r canI in

, deed see anything sweeter
t han th at land

S o mu ch then T ake c ar e o
. f your .

health .
 XIII ( ATT I I XV A TT I I 31
. . . .
( . .

XI V . II .

How mu ch you ar ou se my cur iosity abou t the wor ds

of Bibulus, the chat of th e lar ge eyed one, and that -

dainty banqu et ! So for thwith b e sur e to come as to

h u ng y ears ; althou gh th er e is nothing now wh ich I
r

th ink we nee d to fear mor e th an th at S amp sicer amu s

of ou r s, wh en he feels that he is lashed by the wor ds of
all men an d sees th ese deeds undone, m ay b egin to
g r ow d es p er ate I t
.oo am so w eak ened t h at I w o
u ld
r ath er live u n der a tyr anny in th e leisur e in which I
now languish than tocont end even with the b est hop e
of su cc ess As to your fr equ ent advice abou t comp os
.

ing nothing can b e done ; I have a p u blic hou se, no

,
t a
cou n tr y r esidence ; the inhabitants of F or miaaock h er e
and the E milian tr ibe make it a meeting place Bu t I -
.

disr egar d th e thr ong ; after the fou r th hou r th e r est ar e

not tr ou blesome ; Caiu s Arr ius is my near est neighbor ,
and he is somu ch a comp an ion fo r me th at h e e v en

says h e do es n ot go to Rome th at he may c onver se

whole days with me onphilo sophy Then on th e other .

side is S eb o sn s, th at fr ien d of Catulu s Wh er e shall I .

tu r n? I woul d su r ely go at once to Ar pinu m if I did

not know th at you ar e exp ect ed ver y oppor t u nely in
Fo r miz e at least by th e sixth of May Yo u see towh at .

men I dir ect my attentio n A gr eat Oppor tu nity while

.

these men ar e at my hou se if any one wishes tob u y th e

estate at F o r miw And yet sh all I second this saying ,

What shall we under take, impor tant and demanding

mu ch tho ught and time ?
Y et I will give satisfaction
an d no t sp ar e my labor .

XV . H .

By means I feel as yo
all u write ; S ampsicer amu s is

causing tr ou ble Ther e is ever y r eason why h e is to

b e fear ed He is avowedly pr ep ar ing a tyr anny
.

.
32 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

For what is the meaning of that u nexp ected mar r iage

c on nec tion, the land in Camp ania, th e lavish expendi
tu r e of money If these wer e th e last , yet these wo uld
.

b e too mu ch evil, b u t the affair is su ch th at th ese can

not b e th e end ; for how can these things in themselves
delight th ese men? They wou ld never have come to
this, unless th ey w er e pr ep ar ing fo r th emselv es th e

ways to other evil deeds Assur edly, as you wr ite, I

'

will not bewail these matt er s at Ar pinu m on the tenth

of May, lest the labor and pr epar ation of my liter ar y
wor k may b e for nothing, b u t I will bear it with p eace
ful mind Immor tal gods, hopefu lness does not c om
.

for t me, as it did for mer ly, so mu ch as indier ence,

which I employ innothing somu ch as inthis matte r of
state an d pu blic inter est ; mor eov er to o, whatever light
a d namb t o us qu alit ies I have
n u i i fo r it is a ne thing
to k ow o e s o
n u

w n k n
wea esses ar e delightfully satis
ed ; for I u sed tob e tr ou bled lest the mer its of Samp
sicer amus tohis cou n tr y after six hu ndr ed year s sh ould
appe ar gr eater thanmine ; b u t no w I am fr ee fr om this
anxiety, fo r h e is so fallen that Cur ius seems r m in

his over thr ow Bu t of this when I see yo

. u . Y et it
seems to me that yo u will b e in R o me at m
y a r r ival,

which I shall b e ver y glad of, if you can c ome con

v en iently Bu t if, as yo
. u wr it e, yo u will so come, I

wish you wou ld nd fr om Theophanes what is Ala

bar ches attitu de towar d me Y ou will as u sual inquir e

.

ac cu r ately, and br ing me hint s fr om him as it w er e,

how to condu ct myself ; fr om his wor ds I can gu ess

someth in g a bo u t th e g e ner al c o ndit io n of aa ir s .

XVI .
( A nn 1
1 .

I n ac cor danc e
with what I u nderstood to be your
wish, I have failed Anicatu s u nder nostr e ss of cir c u m
stance I gladly r eceiv ed N u mestiu s into my fr iendship
.
 XVI . ii . 3
3
on ac count of yo ur ear nestly w r itt en letter ; I am c ar e
fu lly watching over Cmcilius inever y way I can Var r o .

satis es me ; P ompey loves me an d holds me dear .

Do yo u believe it ? yo u wi ll ask I do belie ve it

. .

Fur ther than th at, he gives me pr oof of it Bu t since .

ge n er ally p r act ic al me n in all th eir wr itings, pr ec epts,

and maxims or d er u s to b e c au tiou s, an d for bid u s to
be tr u stful I follow th e r st advic e, to be cau tio us b u t
, ,

th e oth er , no t to tr ust, I c an not follow Till now .

Clo dius war ns me of danger ; P ompey asser ts that th ere

is nodanger ; he swear s it, h e evenadd s th at h e wou ld
b e killed by it, befor e I wo uld b e to u ch ed Th e aair
.

is being managed . As soon as it is ar r anged I will

wr ite toyou I f ther e is nee d of ghting, I will c all
.

y o u to ta k e p ar t in t h e wo r k ; if p e ac e is g r an t e d ,
I w ill
not call you away fr om Amalth ea I will wr it e toyou .

abou t th e stat e br iey, fo r n ow I am mu ch afr aid th at

ev er y letter will b etr ay u s, an d soafter this, if I h av e
mor e to wr ite toyou , I will hide u nder assu med names .

No w indee d the state is dying of a new kind of illness ,

soth at altho u gh ever ybody blame s nds fau lt with and

,

g r ie ves ov er tho s e thi n g s w hi ch ar e n ow g o in g o n ,

an d
th er e is b u t one opinionabou t them all speak Openly ,

and gr o an . Y et nor emedy is pr ovid ed Fo r we think

.

we c annot r esist it withou t strife of some kind, and we

d ono t see wh at will be the r esu lt o f yielding to it ex
c ept destr u ction Bibu lu s, thr ou gh th e admir ationand
.

g ood -
w ill o f m e n ,
is on th e s u mm it of pr o sp e r ity M en .

wr ite downand r ead his edicts and h is or ations ; he has

come into the highest glor y in a str ange way ; now
ther e is nothing so popular as popu lar hatr ed I am .

afr aid of th e ou tcome of th ese conditions I will wr ite

.

to you mor e unr eser vedly if I b egin to notice anything .

If you love me as mu ch as you sur ely do, b e quick to

h ast en tome if I call u pon you Bu t I am taking car e,
.

and shall soco n tinu e that this may not b e nec essar y .
34 S ELECT LETT ER S OF CI CERO .

As to my having wr itten that I would wr ite to you

un der the name of Fu r iu s, it is not ne ce ssar y for you
tochan g e yo ur nam e ; I will c all my self L a lins a nd y ou,

Atticus ; and I will not u se my own hand wr iting nor -

my seal, if my letter s ar e of su ch a kind th at I sho uld

not wish them tofall into th e hands of another Dio .

dotu s is d e ad ; he left me abo u t se ste r ce s .

Bibulu s dismissed the comitia accor ding toth e Ar c hilo

chian ed ic t o n the eighte enth of October I r eceived .

th e boo ks fr om V ibiu s a foolish poet, althou gh he

,

knows some thing and is no t entir ely u seless I will .

sen d yo u a c opy .

XVII .
( Ar r . II .

I n the letter I to N u mestiu s, I entreated you so

gave

mu ch tocome that nothing cou ld have beenmor e ur gent

or pressing ; to the sp ee d I then u r ged add evenmor e
nowif you po ssibly can Donot however , alar m your
.

self ( I kn ow you well, and cannot for get how anxious

an d appr ehensiv e love is) , fo r after all the matter is, I

hope, likely totur nou t not sofor midable in the r esu lt

as it seems in the tellin g It se em s c lea
.r to m e that
Vettine, who used to b e my infor mer , has pr omised
Ce sar to contr ive that the you nger Cur io shall fall
un der suspicion of plotting With this obj ect h e .

wor med himself intointimacy with th e lad, and after

fr e quent confer ences with him, as th e evid enc e pr oves,
went sofar as to say that he himself was fully deter
mined tomake his slave s attack P ompey and mur d er
him . Cur io r epor ted this to his father , and he toP o m
pey ; an d the matter eventu ally came befor e the Sen ate .

Vettius, o nbe ing pu t into the box, at r st d enied that

he had ever had any meetings by appointment with
Cu r io Of c our se this did no
. t last long ; ver y soonh e
claimed a ple dge o f indemnity fo r his eviden ce amid ,
 XVII .
( ATT I I
. . 33

i of N o
cr es

.

He th engave ou t that ther e had been
an asso ciatio n o f yo ung men, he aded by Cur io, among
who m or iginally h ad beenL u ciu s P au lns, Quintus p io
( B r u t us ,
I m e an ) ,
an d L e n t u lus ,
th e so n of th e p r ie st of
Mar s, whose father was awar e of it ; and that after ;
war ds Caiu s Septimius, th e se cr etar y of Bibu lu s, had
br ou ght him a dagger fr o m Bibu lus All of this was
tr eated as r idicu lo u sthat V ettins wou ld have had to
.

do withou t a dagger unless the consu l gave him one

and it was sc o u t ed all the mor e fr om th e fact that, o n
the thir t eenth of May, Bib ulus had in for med P omp ey
that h e ou ght tob e o nhis gu ar d against tr each er y, for
which P omp ey had th anked him Cur io the you nger ,
.

on being called, r ebu tted the statements of V ettins ;

and o n that occasion V ettins was discr edited mo stly
fr om his own asser tion that th e plot of these yo u ng
men to make an attack on P omp ey in th e For u m at
th e exhibition o f gladiato r s given by Gabi niu s was
h eaded by P aulns, who was well known to have been
in Mac edonia at th e time . A d ecr ee is passed that
V ettins shou ld b e thr o wn into j ail, be cause by his o wn
c on fession h e h ad car r ied arms ; any magistr ate who
had giveno r der s fo r h is r e lease wo u ld do sotr easo n ably
.

The gener al impr essio n left o n p eeple s minds was an

ide a it had been arr anged fo r Ve ttin a tob e ar r este d in

th e For u m with a dagger , and his slaves, all of th em
ar med, at th e same time ; that he sho uld o ffe r to give
evidenc e ; an d th at t his wo uld act ually have taken
plac e, had not th e Cur ios r st giv en infor mation to
P ompe y . After war ds th e de cr ee of the Senate was
p u b li c ly r ea d . Ho w e v er ,
o n th e ne xt d ay C ae sa r ,
who
once when pr aetor had for bidden Qu intu s Catu lu s to
speak exc ept fr o m b elow th e tr ibu n e, n ow br ought
Vettina for war d actually on it, thu s giving him the
privilege of a place wh ich the consu l Bibu lu s cou ld
sc ar c ely ven tu r e to show himself near Her e he said
.
36 SELECT L ET TER S OF CI CERO .

an ything h e was wished to abo u t th e matter s of stat e,

ina way tob e e xpe cted fr om o ne who had c ome th er e
fu lly pr imed and tu tor e d Fir st he e xc epted th e name
.

of Cmpio fr om his r emar ks, thou gh he had mentioned

him by name most emphatically inth e S enat e, soit b e
c ame c lear th at th e n ight had given an Oppor tu nity fo r

some n octur nal inter cession Next he named p eople on

.

whom in the Senate he had not cast th e le ast br eath of

susp ic ion: L u c u llu s, fr om who se ho u se Caiu s Fan nins,
th e same who su ppo r ted the pr o sec u tion of Clo diu s ,

had , he said , be en fr equ ently sent tohim ; and D omi

tins, who se ho use h ad been xed as the o ne fr om which
the attac k was to b e made . He did not mentionme
by name, b u t said that a cer tain eloqu ent ex consul, a -

near neighb or of the consu l s, h ad r emar ked to h im

that what we wanted was tond some S er viliu s Ahala

or Br u tu s At the ver y last h e added onbeing r ecalled
.
,

by V atiniu s, after th e assembly had been dismissed ,

that he had hear d fr om Cur io that Piso, my son in law, - -

was p r ivy to this plot, as also was Mar cu s L ater ensis .

V ettin s is n ow being ch ar ged befor e Cr assus Dives

with distur bing the peace, and in event of being fou nd
g u ilty in t end s to c la im le a v e to tu r n info r me r ; a n d if
h e su c c eeds in this, th er e will pr ob ably b e mor e th an
one pr o secu tion This I do not exactly disr egar d , for
.

I am one who make it a principle to disr egar d nothing ,

b u t do not mu ch fear .P eople show me th e str onge st

tokens of their good will, b u t I am u tter ly sick of life ;
-

e ver ythin g is so fu ll of e v er y po ssi b le kin d of t r o u b le .

A litt le while agoI fear ed a massacr e b u t this idea ,

was disp elled by the sp ee ch of that stou t hear ted veter an

-

Quintus Considine Now the kind of massacr e I migh t

.

have dr ead ed ever y day has r isen u p all of a su dden .

In ne, it wou ld b e impossible to b e mor e u nhappy

th anI or h appier thanCatu lns alike in the glor y of
, ,

his life and in not see ing the se evil days Still, amid
.
 XVII .
( A TT I I . .
( A TT.I I . 37

all these tr ou b les I keep a good cou r age and u nbr oken
sp ir it , an d am maint aining my po sitio n with dign ity
and with the gr eatest vigilan c e P ompey bids me have
.

nofear ab ou t Glodina, and p r ofesses the gr eat est r egar d

for me i n all his speech es I long to have you advise
.

my actions, shar e my anxieties, and take par t inall my

thou ghts ; so, as I h ave desir e d N u mestiu s top lead with
o
y ,u I n e w ag ain imp lo r e you a s e ar nestly as e v er ,
n ay,
if po ssible, evenmor e so ,
to b e sur e to m ak e h a s te to
me . I sh all feel new life inme whenonce I have set
eyes o nyou .

XVIII . II .

I n fu tur e , if I have spoken in pr aise of any of your

fr iends to you I shou ld like you to let th em know that
,

I have done so For instanc e, I wr ote you lately, you

.

know , that Var r o had b een ver y kind to me, and you
r eplie d that it gave yo u extr eme pleasur e ; b u t I shou ld

b e better pleased toknow yo u had wr it ten him that h e

is doing all I c o u ld wish no t that h e is r eally doing so ,

b u t to get him to do it Fo
. r , as yo u ar e awar e, he has

a cu riou s dispo sition, not str aightfor war d and noth

ing b u t we h ave this saying : we must bear the
fo llies of those in power Y et, u pon my wor d , how
.

liber ally, how nobly, how eloq u ently your oth er fr iend ,

Hor tensius, extolled me toth e skies in speaking of th e

p r m to r ship o f Flac cn s , an d that cr isis abou t th e A 110
br o ge s . I as sur e y o u it wo u ld b e impossible to speak
mor e aectionately and enthu siastically, or in a less
g r u d i
g gn a w ay Y o.u u n der stand, of cour se, that I want
y o u to let hi m k n o w th a t I h a v e w r itten th is to y ou .

Bu t why should yo u wr ite , when I su ppo se yo u ar e o n

your way alr ead y, and indeed almost h er e now? I h ave
p leaded for this somu ch inmy for mer letter s I am .

anxio u sly looking fo r yo u , an d anxio u sly longing, and

y e t it is n ot s om u ch I a s th e c aus e an d th e t im e th a t
 S ELECT L E TT ER S OF CICER O .

lly c alling for you What can I wr ite toyou

th ese matter s exc ept th e old stor ythat nothing
A .

lor e hopeless than th e c on stitu tion ,

nothing mor e
.tefu l thanthose who se wor k all this is Fo r myself,.

as far as I b elieve, and hop e, an d canasc er tain, I am

su ppo So c ome to m e

r te d by ev er ybody s good will -
.

onwings if you donot set me fr ee fr o m all my tr ou ble s,

yo u w il l at le a st sh ar e th em I w rit e
. th e mo r e br ie y
bec ause, as I hepe, we shall soonbe able tomeet and
discuss anything we like Far ewell
. .

XI X .
( FA M XI V . .

I am wr iting you less often than I mig ht becau se,

though I am all times inde ed completely miser able,
y e t tr uly wh ile I am writing to you or r eadin g yo u r

letter s, I am so weakened by my t ear s that I c annot

bear it Oh ! that I had been less eager for life !
.

Cer tainly, th en I sho uld have seen nothing or no t

mu ch of miser y in life Bu t if for tune has pr e ser ved
.

me to the hope of ever r ec ov er ing blessings I have

lost, I have no t made sogr eat a mistake Bu t if these .

tr o u ble s ar e per manent I long tosee you , my life, and

,

die in yo ur embr ac e, since th e gods whom yo u have

worshipped so pio u sly, and th e men towhom I have

alw ays d evot ed myself, have aband on ed u s I was at .

Br u ndisiu m thir teen days at the house of Mar cu s

L aaniu s Flac c ns, an exc ellent man, wh ofo r th e sak e o f
my safety took nothou ght for th e risk o f his fo r tu ne

an d life, and h e was no t hinder ed by th e p enalty o f

that infamous law from oer ing th e r ites and du ties of
hospitality May I b e able some time to make r e quital
.

to him ! I shall always b e gr ateful to him I went .

fr om Brundisiu m the last d ay of Apr il I went to .

Cyzic u s thr o u gh Macedonia Why shou ld I, wr etched

.

an d r uined as I am, ask you to co me to me, yo u, a

 XIX .
(r m . XI V . 39

woman weak in h ealth, and wor n ou t in body and

mind ? Why mu st I no t ask yo u? Can I then exist
witho u t you ? I su ppo se I shall do so; if ther e is a
ho p e Of my r etu rn, you may str engthenit and h elp th e
matter ; b u t if, as I fear , it is all over , come tome in
wh atever way you can T his one thing b e assur ed of,
.

if I shall have yo u , I shall n ot think myself to hav e

b een wholly r u ined . Bu t what will bec ome of my
Tullio la ? Do yo u both see to th at I can give no .

advice . Bu t su r ely, whatever th e cir cu m stances ar e,

that u nhappy gir l mu st pr eser v e both h er mar r iage
por tion and her r epu tation What will my Cic er o do ?
.

I wish that he wer e ever in the embr ac e of my ar ms .

Bu t I c anw rit e no mor e So rr ow pr e vents me

. I do .

not know wh at you have done, wh eth er you still keep

anyth ing o r , as I fear ,y ou h av e b een en t ir e ly r u ine d .

I hope Piso will, as you wr ite, always r emaintr u e tous .

A s to th e manumission o f th e slave s, noth ing need

tr ou ble you I n the r st plac e, your s wer e pr omised
.

th at you wou ld act towar d th em as each deser ved ;

now, e xc ept Or pheu s, ther e is no o ne of them who
sho ws at pr esen t mu ch sense of du ty With r egar d .

tothe oth er s, the conditio n made was th at if my estat e

wer e conscate d, they would b e my fr eedm en, if they
c o u ld obtainp e r missio n Bu t if I pr e ser ve d my estate,
.

th ey should continu e in slaver y, except a ver y few .

Bu t this is o f minor impor tanc e A s to your ur ging

.

m e tob e of good c hee r and hop efu l of r egaining my

safety, I o n ly wish that I may h ave r eason to enco ur

age su ch an exp ec tatio n No w wh en sh all I r ec eive

your letter unh appy that I am ? Whowill br ing it to
.
,

me ? I would have awaited it at Bru ndisiu m, if the

sailors had allowe d m e b u t th ey wer e u n
,
willing tolo se
the ne weather . A s tothe r est , su ppor t yo u r self, my
T erentia, as you can I have lived with honor and
.

have en jy p
o ed r o sper ity I t is n
. ot m y c r im es ,
b u t m y
40 SELECT L ETT ER S OF CI CER O .

vir t u e, that has r uined me N0 sinis mine exc ept that .

I have not lost my life with my honor s Bu t if this .

was my childr ens wish that I live, let me endu r e the

un endu r able And I whocannot encour age myse lf

.

I have sent b ack Clo diu s Philh etwr u m , a tr u stwo r thy

fellow, bec au se h e was a cted by a weakness of the
e yes . S allu stiu s do es his du ty best of all P escenu ius .

is v er y fr iendly tome, and I t r u st he will alw ays c ar e

fo r yo u Sicc a told me, h e wou ld stay by me, b u t h e
.

left me at Br u ndisiu m Be su r e tokeep as well as you

.

c an , an d r emember th at I am mor e tr o u bled by you r

misfo r tu nes than my o wn My T er entia, mo st faithful
.

and best of wive s, my dear est little dau ght er , and

Cic er o my r emaining h epe, far ew ell ! Br u ndisiu m
,
.

A pr il 30 .

XX
.
( A T T III
. .

I c ame to Br u md isiu m Ap r il 18 That d ay your .

messenger s gave me a letter fr om you and thr ee days ,

aft er , oth er messenger s br ou ght ano th er letter Yo u .

ask and u r ge me to c ome to yo u r ho u se in Epir u s .

Your kindness is ver y pleasant to me, and is not at all

a n ew thin g Th a t p
. la n I sho u ld in d ee d d e sir e if I
cou ld sp end all my time th er e For I despise pu blicity, .

I shu np eople I almo st loathe th e light A solitu de

,
.

like yo ur s esp ec ially in a familiar p lace I shou ld en

, ,

o
j ;
y b u t to g oth er e fo r th e s ak e o f a r e st ing p la c e in -
,

th e r st plac e it is o ut o f my way, then it is fou r days

jou r ney fr om Antr oniu s and th e oth er s and then you ,

ar e no t th er e Fo r it would b e o
. f inestimable b ene t
tome to dwell in a for tied shelt er , b u t it is no t nec es
sar y as I jou r ney Bu t if I dar ed I w o
. u ld go toAth ,

en s . Indeed, it was falling ou t as I sh ou ld wish ; b u t

now my enemies ar e ther e and you ar e not with me .

I fear that they may not consider th at townsu fciently

far fr o m Italy, an d yo u do n ot wr ite o nwhat day I aru
 XX .
(ar r I I I
. .
XXI .
(Q . FR . I .

to expect you I n r ecalling me to life, you do on

.

thin g y
: o u k e ep m e f r o m k illing myself, b u t yo u can

not eect th e oth er , not tomake me so rr y for my po lic y

and con du ct For what is ther e which holds me back,
.

especially if I h av e n ohope to ac company me in my

tr avels ? I will not r ecou nt all the wr etc hedne ss which
I have endur ed thr ou gh the gr eate st inj ur y and cr ime ,

no t somu ch of my enemie s, as o f tho se whower e env i

ou s, lest I r enew my sor r ow, and br ing you into th e
same sadn ess ; this I am su r e of, th at n oone was ever
over whelmed with su ch c alamity, no one ever longed
mor e for death , whose time for an honor able death is
past ; th e r emaining time c annot heal, b u t only end
my gr ief . Abou t the r epu blic , I see you ar e c ollecting
ever ythin g wh i ch y ou th ink c a n b r in g any hop e to m e

fo r a chan g e in a a ir s Tho
. u h
g y o u can b u t s lig htly
aid me , yet I en joy waiting in expectation N ev er the .

less yo
,
u will ov er take me if yo u hasten; fo r I shall

e ither b e en t ering Epiru s or slowly going thr ou gh Can

davia . It was not my ir r esolu t ionwhich pr esented a
dou bt abo u t Epir u s, b u t it was be c au se I did not know
wher e I shou ld see my br other I do not know how I
.

shall see him, o r wh er e I sh all sen d him away That is .

the gr eatest and mo st tr ying of all my misfor tu nes .

And I would wr ite oftener and mor e toyou , if my gr ief

had not taken away all th e fac ulties of my mind, and
esp ec ially th e power of wr iting I long to see you
. .

Br undisiu m, Apr il 30 .

XXI .
( Q Fa I
. . .

My br other , my br other my br other ,

,
di d y ou fe a r

that I, fr om a feeling o f ir r itation, sent messen ge r s to

you w itho u t a le tt e r ,
or e v e n th at I did not w ish to se e

you ? Should I b e angr y with you ? Could I b e angr y

42 SEL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

with you ? Tr ue, you have tr ou bled me ; your enemies

an d you r u npopu lar ity have r u ined me, and it is no t I
who has miser ably d estr oyed you ; that w ell known -

and hono r ed consulship of min e I would b e w illing to

have depr ive me of you , my childr en, cou ntr y, and
for tu ne b u t not to dep r ive you of anything b u t me
, .

Bu t indeed ev er ything has always tur ned o u t hon or

ably and p leasantly fo r me be c au se of yo u ; because o f
me you suffer ed gr ief at my misfor tunes, fear for your
own want, sor r ow and loneliness Should I no
, ,
. t wish
to see yo u ? On th e contr ar y I did not wish tob e seen

,

by you , for you would not have seen you r br other not
the manwhom yo u h ad left ; n ot th e man whom you
had known; no t th e manwhom yo u left intear s at yo u r

depar tur e when you w er e you r self in tear s not even a
tr ace or gho st of him, b u t the image of a living death .

Wou ld that you had befor e this seenor h ear d of me as

dead ! Wou ld that I had left you my su r vivor and h eir ,

not only of my life b u t my r epu tationtoo; b u t I call all

,

the gods towitness that I was d et e r r e d f r o m death by

this one consider ation b ec au se ever y one said that in
,

my life some par t of yo ur s was bou nd u p ; ther efor e I

have sinne d and wr ongly acted F or if I h ad died, my
.

ver y de ath wou ld easily have conr med my devotion

and lov e toyo u . No w I have br o ught it abou t th at you
ar e depr iv ed o f me in my lifetime yo h
nneed oth er s in
-

my life timeand my vo ic e above all was silenc ed in

domestic tr ou ble s, which oftenwas a pr ot ect iontotho se
wh ow er e u t ter str anger s For as to th e messenger s
.

c o min g to you w itho u t let ter s, since y ou see an g e r w as

not my r eason, cer tainly it was laziness and th e ov er

whelming po wer of tear s and grief With how mu ch .

weeping do you think I have wr itten these ver y wor d s ?

I feel su r e you ar e r eading th em inthe same way Can .

I either c ease tothink of you or th ink of you witho u t

,

tear s ? I n lo nging for you am I longing for a br o ther ,

,
 XXI .
(Q . FR . 1
. 43

only ? I ntr u th, I long in th e char ms of inter c ou r se for

a fr ie n d, in devotion a son, in wise cou nsel a fath er .

What pleasu r e have we ever had apar t ? What thou gh

at the same th e I lon g for a d au g ht e r ,
of wh a t p iety ,

mode sty, and wit ! th e image o f my self in p er son .

sp e ec h, an d sou l ! What of my lovely and char ming

so n? whom I was cr u el and har d hear ted enou gh to -

sen d fr om my embr ac e, a b oy wiser th an I would h ave

wished ; for in his tr ou ble h e u nder stood what was
happening What then of yo ur son, th e likeness of
.

you r self, whom my Cic er o both loved as a br oth er , and

r ev er en ced as an older br other ? And I did not allow
that mo st unhappy woman, my faithfu l wife, to follo w
me , soth at sh e might b e the one to gu ar d what alone
r emain e d fr om o u r r u in o ur childr e n
,
Bu t, as I c ould,
.

I have wr itten and sent a letter toyou by Philogonu s,

your fr eedman, which I tr u st has beendeliver ed toyou
inthis I b eg and d emand the same thing which mes
sen ge r s h av e told y o u in m y ow n wo r d s,
th at yo u sho u ld
imme diately set o u t an d hastento R ome F ir st, I have .

wished you tob e a defenc e in c ase th er e wer e any ene

mies whose cr u elty was not satised by my r u in; th en
I have fear ed the sor r ow of ou r meeting ; in tr uth, I
could not have endu r ed a sep ar ation, and e specially I
had th e same fear th at yo u wr it e o f, that yo u cou ld n ot
b e divided fr om me . Fo r th e se r e aso n s my gr eatest

tr ou ble innot seeing you , thanwhich it seems nothing

mor e cr u el or lamentable c an h app en to mo st lov ing
and u n ite d br oth er s was less cr u el, less lamentable
,

thanit would have beenif we had met, su r ely if we h ad

separ at e d again .Now if you can do what I, wh o al
ways seemed str ong toyou , cannot, ar ou se you r self and
take co ur age if any str u ggle mu st take place ; I hop e ,

if my hope has any weight th at your u p rightness and

,

th e lo ve of the state and even p ity for me, will br ing

,

so me assistanc e Bu t if you ar e fr ee fr om that danger

.
44 SEL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

of your s, you will sur ely ac t in my behalf if you think

an ything can b e done I n r egar d to this, many men
.

wr ite to me and show me th ey have hepe, b u t I d onot

see wh at h epe I h av e wh en my en emies ar e so power

fu l ; so me of my fr iends have deser te d me, some have

even betr ayed me, b e c au se th e y per haps fear at my re

tur n th e ac cusation of their own guilt Bu t, of what

.

o t your t r ou bles ar e, I wish you wou ld nd ou t and

s r

t ell me Y et I shall live as long as you have wor k to

.

d o, if yo u see an y d an g er is to b e en co u nte r e d ; I c an
r emain n olonger in this sor t of existenc e ; for neither
wisdom nor lear ning has enou gh str ength to be able to
en du r e somu ch gr ief I know ther e has been a time
.

wh en I c ou ld h ave died mor e honor ably and more ad

v an tage ou sly, b u t I h ave let slip no t this alone, b u t many
o ther th ings I f I should wish tobewail them when
.

past I should d o nothing b u t incr ease your gr ief, to

,

show my stu pidl y . It mu st not and cannot b e that I

stay an y longer than yo ur cir cumstances and sanguine
hepe demand in an existenc e sowr etched and shame o x

fu l, sothat I, who lately was mo st happy inmy br other ,

childr en, wife, r esour ces, even the wealth which I had,
and in dign ity, in u enc e, honor , and favor , was no t
in fer ior toany, even th e most for tunate, am no t ina
co ndition so abj ect and abando ned, and cannot long
g r ie v e for m y d ea r o n e s .W hy di d you w r ite m e an y
thing abou t th e sale of p r op er ty ? As if in tr u th your
r esour c es w er e n ot su staining me new I n this ver y
.

matter I see and know what sin I committed, since yo u

will satisfy your cr editor s with your oh pr oper ty and

your sons, and I spent in vain the money r ec eived in

your name fr om the tr easu r y And yet payment has

.

b eenmade to Mar cus Antoniu s as mu ch as you wr ote ,

and j u st as mu ch toCre pio; that which I have is sum
cient for wh at I am planning ; for whether I pu ll thr ough
or give u p, there is need ofnothingmor e If per chan. ce
 X XI .
(Q
. FR 1 . . 45

you ar e in any difc u lty, I th ink you might gotoCr as

sus an d Calidiu s I d onot know how mu ch Ho r t ensiu s
.

is to b e tr us ted . He with Qu intus Arr iu s has tr eat ed

me most abominably and tr eacher ou sly, with gr eat pr e
tensions of aectionand incr easing attention; for saken
by their plans, pr omises, and advic e, I have fallen into
this tr ou ble Bu t hide these things, th at th ey may not
take c ar e tooand on this acco u nt, I think
.

inj ur e yo u

y o u s ho u ld assist Ho r te n sius h imself th r o u gh P o mp o

ninslest that verse abou t th e Au r elian law which was
ascr ibed toyo u whenyo u w er e a can didate for the wdile
ship sh ou ld b e xed o n you by false evidence ; for I
fear nothing somu ch as that whenmen come to u nder
stan d how mu ch pity your pr ayers and you r safety will
br ing tome, they may oppose you all th e mor e I c on .

sider that Messala is attac he d to yo u , b u t P omp ey I

think is pr etending Bu t may you not nd this to b e

.

tr u e ! This pr ayer I wou ld make tothe gods, had they

not ceased tohear my pr ayer s Y et I tr uly pr ay that
.

they may b e satised with th ese innite misfor tu nes of

mine ; in them th er e is nodisgr ac e of one wh oh as b e en
at fau lt b u t it is alto geth er a pity, b ecau se th e gr eat
,

e st pu n ishment has been decr ee d fo r d eed s do n e be st .

Why, my br oth er , should I commend to you my dungh

ter and the Cic er o s, o u r so ns ? Mor eover , it gr ieves
me that separ ation fr om them br ings no less sor r ow
to you than to me Bu t they have not been entir ely
.

depr ived of you May some safety and opportu nity

.

of dying fo r my cou n tr y be gr ante d me my tear s

,

pre vent my wr iting mor e And I wish you to pr o

.

teet T erentia and wr ite me abou t ever ything Be

.

as br ave as the con dition of affair s allo w Ju ne 1 . .

46 SELECT LETT ER S OF CI CER O .

XXII .
(A N . 111 .

In d to wh at I wr ote you that I wou ld b e in

r e gar

Epir u s since I saw my hop e lessening and fading

,

away I changed my plan, an

,
d I d id not star t fr om
Th essalonica, wher e I det er mined tor emain u ntil you
wr ote me of that which you had mentioned inyo u r last
le t te r that immediately after th e election something
,

wou ld b e done abou t my c ase in th e Senate P o mp ey .

h ad said th is toyo u So sinc e the ele ctionis over and

.
,

y o u w r ite noth ing t o m e ,

I sh all t ak e it as if y ou h ad

wr itten that nothing was do ne I shall not r egr et that .

I was led away by th e h e p e of r etu r nat nodistant time .

The se however wh o c om e annou nc e th at th e move

, ,

ment you wr ote that you saw whic h se eme d to b e of

advantage tome will amo u nt tonothing
,
I have hop e .

r emain ing in th e tr ibu ne s elect And if I wait fo .r this ,

ther e will b e nor easonwhy you sho uld think I am fail

ing in my own c ause o r in good will o f my fr iends -
.

Y ou often b lam e m e th at I am soimp atient o f this mis

for tu ne omine Y ou ou ght to p ar donit when you see
.

me mor e c ast d own th an any one else you ever saw

or h ear d of B u t as to you r wr iting th at you hear
.

that I am going cr az y fr om my sor r ow, my mind is

tr u ly sou nd, and I wish it h ad be en as mu ch soin the
time o f my danger when I fou nd these to whom I
,

su pp o sed my safety mo st de ar mo st ho stile and cr uel ;

wh o as th ey saw me giving way a little thr o u gh fear ,

,

so str u c k th e blow as to u se all th eir vice an d faith

lessness fo r my de str u c tion Now, since I mu st go
.

toCyz icu s, wh er e letter s c an b e c onveyed to me less

fr equ ently, I wish th at yo u wo u ld wr ite V er y car e fu lly

e ver yth ing which yo u th in k I ou ght toknow Ch er ish .

my br oth er Quintu s for if in my wr etchedness I leave

,

h im safe I sh all think I hav e no

, t b een who lly r u ined .

Au gu st 5 .
 XXI I .
( A TT I I I
. .
XXIII ( A TT
. . III . 47

XXIII . III .

Au gust 13, I r ec eived fou r letter s fr om you : one to

r ep r o ach me fo r n ot b eing h er ; a sec ond in which
y o u m e ntio n th a t C r as su s s f r e

e d m au h as to ld you how
wor n and thin I loo k with anxiety ; a thir d, d e scr ibing
p r oc e e din g s in th e S e n a t e ; a n d a fo ur th o n a po in t
which you tell me you have hear d Var r o cor r obor ate ;
namely, the inclinations of P omp ey My answer to .

th e r st is this . It is tr u e, I d ogrieve, b u t sofar fr o m

letting this impair my r esolu tion, it is it self a cause o f
g r ief to m e th a t w i th su ch an u n sh a k en p ur po se I c an
neither nd scop e no r symp athy fo r it Fo r if yo
. u c an

not r efr ainfr om gr ieving when I, and I only, am miss

ing, wh at, think yo u , mu st it b e to me to b e p ar t ed ,

fr om you and ever ybody ? And if you , enjoying all

your r ight s, feel my absence, how mu ch, think you ,
must I b e longing for those ver y r ights ? I am loath to
re cou n t all that I have been r obbed of, not only be
c ause it will not b e new to you , b u t becau se I shr ink
fr om r eopening th e old smar t This only I r epeat :.

never yet did manfall fr om su ch high estate, or u nto

su ch depths o f miser y Time, however , so far fr om
.

bringing balm to this p ain, in fact inames it ; for

while all other sor r ows ar e mellowed by age, this alone
can on ly gr o w keener day by day as one thinks of th e
miser y of the pr esent , and looks b ack on the days that
ar e past . Fo r wh at I miss is n ot mer ely the blessings
and th e friends I onc e h ad, b u t my ver y self What .

indeed is left o f me b u t I will no

-
t let myself eith er
thu s distr ess your mind with my lamentations, or b e
p per et ua lly ha n d lin g m y o w n wo u n d s N o w
.
, as to yo u r

defence of the people th at I said w er e j ealou s of me,

inclu ding Cato among th em, why tr uly I, fo r my p ar t,

hold him soentir ely acqu itte d of su ch b aseness that I ,

bitter ly r egr et h aving tr u sted th e pr etended fr iendship

48 S ELECT L ETTER S OF CI CERO .

of o th er s mor e th an h is stu r dy felicity .As tothe r est

u h o ur
y ou d e f end , th ey o u g ht to b e c le ar in m y e y e s if
th e y ar e in yo ur s . Bu t this d isc u ssio n is ou t o f date .

A s to Cr assu s s fr eedman, h e, I d ar e say, d id not sp eak

a wor d o f tr u th Yo u d e scr ibe the debate inth e S e n ate

.

as satisfac tor y . Bu t how abo u t Cu r io , c an it b e that

he has no t r ead that spee ch, tho u gh how it go t pu b
lish ed, I c annot imagine ? Axine, h ow ever , in h is
lett er to me abo u t th e p r oc e edings of th e ver y same
day, is no t soeu logistic of Cu r io . Bu t it is possible
that h e passes over something : you, of cou r se, wou ld
not have told me anything b u t wh at was fac t What .

Var r o says gives me some hopes of Caesar , and I o nly

wish Var r o could b e got to thr ow himself into ou r cau se .

Sur ely if he would do it of his own ac cor d, he wo u ld

b e yet mor e likely if yo u p r e sse d him . Fo r myself, if

Heaven ever r estor e me to you and my cou ntr y, I will

indeed tr y har d that yo u above all my fr ien ds may have
cau se tor ejoice at it ; and th e claims of du ty and aec
tion, which I must ac knowledge have not b een sun i

cien tly conspicu ou s h ith er to, I will so disch ar ge that

yo u sh all th in k me r estor e d toyo u as mu c h as to my

br other and my family If I have ever done you wr ong

nay, what I ou ght to say is, for th e wr ong I have
.

done you , for give me ; for it is myself I have wr onged

far mor e deeply . Now I am not wr iting this as if I
wer e not awar e how gr eat is the gr ief you feel at my
downfall, b u t assu r edly, if th e affect ion you have and
had for me were , and always had been, nothing b u t
my du e, you would never have allowed me to lack the
help of that sou nd advice of which you had su ch over
owing w ealth, nor wo u ld you have allowed me to b e
delu d ed into believing th at it was best for u s to let
that set abou t gu ilds be car r ied Bu t in my tr o u ble
.

yo u o nly gav e m e t ear s as a t r ib u te of affectio n; and

th at was all th at I did for rnv se lf What I ou gh t to
.
 XXII I .
( A TT I I I . . 49

hav e ear ned by a r eal m u p on you th at night and

clai

u should b e think in

day yo g,
w h a t w i ll i t b e b e s t f or

him to do ? h as all b een thr own away, by my o wn

wr ong do ing, not by yo ur s Bu t had th er e been a so ul
-
.

I d onot meanonly you , b u t any onetohold me back

fr om my cow ar dly r esolu tion wh en I was u pset by th e
un g en e r o us r ep ly o f P o m p e y , an d th is y ou w e r e th e

one manmo st cap able of do ing, I shou ld eith er h av e

fallen withou t disgr ace , or lived to be tr iu mphant at
this day . Yo u w ill b ear with me thu s far ; fo r it is my

self I um acc u sin g m u c h m o r e d ee p ly o f u s tw o ,

a n d

y o u on l y a ft er w a r d s a s b ein g m y s e co n d se lf ; a n d th e n
of co u r se I sho u ld lik e to nd somebody to sh ar e the
blame with Then too, if I am r estor ed, I shall seem
.

toh ave made less o f a failu r e, and I sh all b e loved by

y o u su r el y f or th e k in dn e ss yo u h a v e s how n s in c e I a m
not tob e sofor any fr om me What you mentionthat .

y o u d is c us se d w i th C u llc o abo u t this b ein a bill a ainst

g g
an individu al h as so methin g in it ; b u t a fo r m a l r e p e al
is far mor e desir able . Fo r if n obody means tooppo se,
wh at canb e mor e conclu siv e ? I f, on the other hand,
th er e is any one disposed topr event its p assing, h e will
b e su r e also to v eto a d ecr ee o f the S enate . No r is

th er e any need tor epeal anything else ; for th e r s t of

th e twolaws did no t aect me at all, and if we h ad c o n
se nte d wh enit was r st p r opo sed to giv e it a gener al

su ppo r t o r to disr egar d it, whic h was all that it d e

se r ved, it cou ld no t po ssibly have hur t u s a whit . H er e

it was that fo r th e r st time my j u dgmen t failed, nay,
e v en stood in my way . How blind, yes, blind, we mu st
h ave beenfor changing ou r gar ments and implor ing th e
aid of th e people, always a mischievou s st ep to t ake
u nless ind eed th ey h ad b egun to att ack me by n ame .

B u t I keep h ar ping o n th e p ast Still it is fo

. r this r ea

so n, to pr event your meddling at all, if any step is

t aken, with the law abov e mentioned, which has many
50 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

o
p pu lar pr ovisions Bu t it is foolish of me to b e ad vis
.

ing yo u abo u t what yo u ar e todo an d how to do it ;

only I wish to H eaven something cou ld b e done ! Your
letters I fancy keep back a good deal, lo st I should b e

too mu ch over whelmed with despair For what is ther e .

that you see po ssible to be done, and how Canwe

c ou n t on the S enate Wh y, you yourself wr ote me
that Clo dine h ad a ixe d tothe door of the Cur ia a c er
tain sectionof h is law, that it be illegal to make any

motio n or speak u ponth e point .

How comes it, then,
that Domitius annou nc ed his intention of making a
motion; or againhow is it th at when th e people you
mention wer e both discu ssing th e m att er and calling
fo r it tob e pu t to the vote Clo ,
diu s kept silence On
th e other hand, if we ar e abou t to tr u st to the popular
assembly, will that b e po ssible w i thou t secur ing the
un an imous consent of the tr ibu nes What abou t my
p p
r o e r ty W h at abo u t m y ho use ? C an i t b e r e sto r e d ,

or if it cannot, h ow can I b e ? Unless you can see

some way o u t of these thin g ,
s wh a t ho p e c a n y o u ho l d
ou t to me ? Or if you have nohep e, what to me is life
itself ? I am th en waiting at Th essalon ica fo r the r e ~

p o r t of t h e ev en t s of th e r st of A u g u st ,
ac co r di n g to
which I mu st deter mine whether I will r etir e to your
e st at e in the c ou ntr y, wher e I c an avoid seein g an y
body whom I d onot w ant to, while , as you ur ge, I can
see yo u , an d b e at hand if th er e is anything tob e do ne,
and this cour se is what I u nder stand yo u as well as my

br other would ad vise, or whether I will go to Cyzicus .

Now, my dear P omponius, since you wou ld not give me

an y of yo ur good advic e toh elp me eith er becau se yo
,
u

thou ght I was qu ite capable of ju dging for myself, or

fr om an idea that you wer e only bound to b e r ead y
whenapp ealed to : since I have been betr ayed, invei
g le d , fo r c e d in to a sna r e ; h a v e l et a ll m y s tr o n g e st d e

fences b e taken; have pu t aside and ignor ed Italy, when

 XXI V ( AM 111
'

XXI I I (ATT I II
. . . . . . 51

sh e was all aler t in my defenc e ; and have given u p

myself and my dear est ones to my foes, while you
looked o nwithou t a wor d, thou gh if you wer e not mor e
keensighted than I, yo
- u wer e at least less u nder the

inu ence of fear , I pr ay yo u , wh er ever

yo u have ano p
p o r tu nity, giv e a h a n d ,
if yo u c an ,
to a f allen m an, an d
b e in this a su ppor t to me .If, however , all ways ar e
blocked, b e sur e to let me know the tr uth, and on no
accou nt an y lo ng er tr y to sh am e m e into actio n o r to
c on sole me o u t of mer e politen e ss If I wer e blaming
.

your good faith, it wou ld not be your r oof above all

other s I should choose for a r efuge No, it is my own .

blindness I blame, in thinking myself loved by you as

mu ch as hear t c ould wish Had this been so, you
.

wou ld have shown noless delity, b u t incr eased anx

iety : assu r edly yo u wou ld h av e h eld me back wh en I

was inging myself u pon destr u ction; and th en yo u

would not have had to labor as you ar e now doing to

r epair this sh att er e d wr e ck .Be sur e, th erefor e, tolet
me know ever ything abo u t which yo u ar e clear an d c er
tain; and h elp me, as ind eed you ar e doing, to b e a man
again, sinc e I dar e no t say to be what I was once, o r

onc e had it inmy power to become ; and remember that

inthis lett er it is no to nyou , b u t onmyself, I have been
thr owing th e blame If th er e sho uld be any people to
.

whom letter s ou ght to b e sent as thou gh they came

fr o m me, I wish yo u would wr ite them an d see they ar e
dispatched August 17
. .

XXIV . III .

As lo
ng wer e br ought to me fr om you
as su ch letters
that I had something to expect fr o m them, I was kept
at Thessalonic a by h ep e and desir e After I thou ght .

all measur es of th e year w er e comp le ted , I was nu

willing togoto Asia, both as I obj ect to notor iety, and

 SELECT LETTER S OF CICERO .

5 not wish tob e far away if any ste p s sh ould b e take n

by the new omcials ; soI have decided to co me to you
inEpir us, no t th at th e plac e may b e to my advantage ,
that I may wholly shun the light, b u t fr om your har bor
I shall most fr eely esc ape to safety, and if that means
is c u t o , nowher e shall I mor e easily endu r e, or , what
is far pr efer able, r id myself of this mo st wr etc h ed ex
istenc e. I will come with a few follower s, having dis
missed many . Your le tter s have never given me as
mu ch hop e as those of oth er friends, b u t yet my feel
ings ar e evenmor e hop eless than your lett er s Never
.

th ele ss, sinc e th e q u estion h as come u p, in whatever

way and for what r easonit h as ar isen, I will disr egar d
neither the wr etc hed and pite ous pr ayer s of my most
noble and only br oth er , no t th e hop e of my wife Te
r en tia, that mo st miser able woman, no r the en tr eaties
of my u nhappy Tulliola, nor you r faithfu l letters ; Epi
r u s will give me th e oppo r t u n ity for safety, or th e alter

native which I wr ote above I f thr ou gh the per dy of

.

men you see me depr ive d of e ver ything which is most

honor able, most dear , and most delightful, betr ayed
and de ser te d by the friends of my o wnr ank, if you see
me for ced to r uin myself and those dear tome, I b eg
and b esee ch yo u , T itu s P omponius, to aid me in your
pity, and su ppor t my br other Q uintu s, who can b e
saved , guar d T er en tia and my childr en Wait for me
.

if yo u thin k you will see me wher e you ar e, and if not,

c o me to me if yo u can . Give me enou gh o f your land
fo r my bod y to ll ; send messengers tome with letters
as ear ly an d oftenas po ssible September 16
. .

XXV .
( Fan XI V
. .

I hepe you will never think that I wr ite longer let

t er s tooth er people u nless it so happens th at any o ne
h as wr itten me abo u t a nu mb e r of matter s that se em
 XXV .
( FA M. XI V . 53

tor equir e an answer . I nfact, I have nothing tosay ,

nor is there now anything which I nd mo '

r e dilcult .

Bu t to yo u an d o u r Tu llio la I c annot wr ite withou t

sh ed din g m an y te a r s, wh e n I pic t ur e y ou to m y sel f
plunge d inthe deep est aiction whom I have wished ,

to see per fectly happy ; and this I ought to have secur e d

fo r yo u ; ye s, an d I wou ld have secur e d, b u t fo r o ur be

ing all so faint h ear t ed

-
. I am most gr ateful to ou r
fr iend Piso for his kind ser vic es I did my best to ur ge
.

that he would not for get you when I was wr iting to

him ; and h ave now thanke d him as in du ty bo und . I
g a th er th a t y o u th in k th e r e is h ep e of th e n ew tr ib un e s ;
that will b e a safe thing to depend on, if we may on
the pr ofessions of P omp ey, bu t I hav e my fear s of Cr as
sus . It is tr u e that I see that ever ything on your par t
is done bo th br avely and lovingly, no r do es that sur

pr ise me, b u t what pains me is that it shou ld b e my fate

toexp ose yo u tosu ch se ver e sn er ing to r elieve my
own for P u blius Valer ius, who has beenmost attentive,
wr ote me wor d, and it cost me many t ears in the read
ing, ho w you had beenfor ced to goaway fr om the tem
p le of V e s t a to th e V a ler i an o ce A las m y gl i h t m y

, ,
.

love whom all u sed once to loo k u p tofo

, r r elief that
o
y , u m y T e r en tia, shou ld b e tr eated thus ; that you
shou ld thu s b e plunged intear s and miser y an ,d thr ough
my fau lt ! I have indee d pr eser ved other s, only fo r me

and mine to p er ish As towhat yo u say abou t o ur

.

ho u se o r r athe r its s te I fo
i r my p ar t shall con sider

my r esto r ation tob e complete on

-
ly when I nd it has
beenr estor ed to me But these things ar e not in our
.

hands ; what tr o u bles me is th at in the ou tlay which

must be incur r ed you , unh appy and impover ished as
yo u ar e, mu st n ec essar ily shar e . However , if we shall
su cc e ed in o u r obj e ct I sh all r ecover ever ythin g , b u t
th en if ill fo r tu ne c o ntinu es to per secu te u s, ar e yo
-
u,

my poor dear , to be allo wed to thr ow awaywhat yo u

54 S EL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

may have saved fr om th e wr ec k As to my exp enses,

I entr eat you , my dear est life, to le t other people who
can do soper fectly well, if th ey w ill, r eliev e yo u
; and
b e sur e as yo u love me, n ot to let your anxiety inj ur e
your health , which you knowis sodelicate Night and .

day yo u ar e alw ay s befor e my eyes : I see

y ou m aking
ever y exer tiono nmy behalf, and I fear you may not b e
able to bear it . Bu t I know w ell th at all o ur hop es ar e

inyo u ; sob e ver y c ar eful of yo ur h ealth, that we may

b e su ccessfu l in what yo u hope an d ar e wor king fo
.
r .

As far as I know , ther e is nobody I ou ght to wr ite to

exc ept those whowr ite tome, o r tho se whom yo u me n

tion to me in your let ter s Sinc e you pr efer it, I will

.

not move any fur th er fr om h er e, b u t I hepe you will

wr ite to me as often as possible, especially if we have
an y surer gr ou nds fo r hep ing G oo d b e m
y , y
. d ar lin
-
gs,
good b ye
-
. Thessalonic a October 5
. .

XXVI .
( I nn XI V . .

Fr o m th e letter s of ver al people and th e talk of

se

ever ybody, I h ear that your cour age an d endur anc e ar e

simp ly won der ful, and that notr ou bles of body or mind
can exhaust yo ur en er gy How u nhappy I am tothink
.

that, with all your c ou r age and devotion yo ur vir tu es ,

an d gentleness, yo u should hav e fallen in to su ch mis

for tu nes for me ! And my sweet T ullia, too, th at she,
who was once sopr ou d of her fath er should have tonu ,

d er gosu ch tr ou bles owing to him And what shall I

say abo u t my boy Mar cu s, who ever sin ce h is fac u lties

of p er c eption awoke has felt the shar pest p angs of sor

ro w and miser y ? Co uld I b u t think, as you tell me ,

that all this comes in the nat ur al c ou r se of things, I

c o u ld be ar it a little easier Bu t it has b een br ou gh t
.

abou t en tir ely by my own fau lt, for thinking myself

loved by those who wer e j ealou s of me , an d tur ning
 XXVI .
( FAM XI V . .

fr om th ose wh owant ed towinme Y et had I b u t u sed

.

my own j u dgment, and not let th e advic e of friends

who wer e eith er weak or per dio us weigh so mu ch

with me, we might now b e living inper fect happiness .

As it is, sinc e my fr iends enco ur age me to hope, I will

take car e not to let my h ealth b e a bad ally toyour ex
er tio ns I qu ite u nd erstand what a task it is, and how
.

mu ch easier it was to stop at home than to get back

ther e again; still if we ar e sur e of all the tr ibunes, and
of L entu lus, su ppo sing him to be as z ealous as he
seems, c er tain ly if we ar e sur e of P ompey as well, and
Cwsar to o, the case cannot b e desper ate Abou t our .

slaves, we will let it be as yo u t ell me you r fr ien d s have

ad vised As tothis plac e it is tr u e that th e epid emic
.
,

has on ly j u st passed o , bu t I escaped infectionwhile

it lasted P lancius, wh o has been exc essively kind,
.

p r e sses m e to s ta y w ith him , a nd will n ot p a r t w ith m e

y e t
. M y ow n w ish w a s to b e in so m e o u t o f th e way
- - -

p la c e in E p ir us ,
w h er e B isp o a nd hi s s o ld ie r s w o u ld
no t b e likely tocome, bu t P lancius will no t yet hear o f
my going ; he hopes h e may yet manage to r etur n to
Italy himself when I do If I should ever see that day
.

an d onc e mor e r etu r n to yo ur ar ms, and feel that I was

r esto r e d toyo u an d to myself, I should admit th at bo th
your loyalty and mine h ad been abu ndantly r epaid .

Piso s kindness, constancy, and aectio

n ar e beyond all
descr iption May h e r eap satisfaction fr om itr epu
.

tatio n I feel c er tainh e will A s toQu intu s I make no

.
,

c omplain t of you b u t you ar e the ver y two people I

,

should mo st like to see livin g i n h ar m o ny , e s pe c ial ly

sin c e th er e ar e none too many of you left to me I .

have th anked th e people you wanted me to, and men

tio ned that my info r mation came fr om you As toth e
.

block of hou ses which you t ell me you meanto sell

wh y, good h eavens ! my d e ar T er entia wh at is to b e ,

don e Oh, what tr o ubles I hav e tob ear ! And if mis

56 SEL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

for tu ne c ontinu es top er secu t e u s what will become of,

ou r poor b oy ? I c annot continu e towr it e my tear s
ar e to o mu ch for me ; nor would I wish to betr ay you
into th e same emotion All I can say is that if o
. ur

fr iends act u p to th eir du ty we shall not want for ,

mo ney ; if th ey d onot you will not b e able tosu cceed

,

only with you r own L et our unhappy for tu nes, I en

.

tr eat you , b e a war ning tou s not to r u in our b oy, wh o

.

is r u ined eno u gh alr eady If he only h as something to

.

sav e him fr o m absolu t e w an t, a fair shar e of lu ck will

b e all th at is nec essar y to win anything else Dono t .

neglect yo u r h ealth and send me messenger s with let

,

ter s tolet me know what goes on and how you you r

selve s ar e far ing M y su
. sp e nse in an y c ase c annot now
b e long Give my love tomy little T u llia and my Mar
.

cu s . Dyr r hachium No v 26
. . .

I have moved toDyr r hachiu m b ecau se it is not only

a fr ee city, b u t ver y mu c h in my int er e st and qu it e
near toItaly ; b u t if the bustle of th e p lac e pr ove s an
annoyanc e I shall betake myself elsewh er e and give
you notice .

XXVII .
( FA M XI V . .

I have r eceived fr om Aristocr itu s thr ee letter s which

I near ly destr oyed with my tear s, for I am wor n ou t
with sor r ow, dear T er entia, and my own tr ou bles tor
tu r e me no t mor e th an your s, b u t I am mor e unh appy
th an yo u , wr etc h ed th ou gh yo u may b e , b ec au se th e

misfor t une is shar ed by u s both, b u t th e fault is my

own It was my du ty eith er to avoid danger by accept
.

ing anemb assy o r tor esist it by pr u den c e and suicient

r eso ur c es o
,
r to fa ll b r av ely Noth ing w.as ev er mo r e

wr etched, b ase, or u nwor thy of myself thanmy condu ct

in this So I am br o
. k en both by my sor r ow and my
shame .Fo r I am ashamed th at I did n ot exhibit to my
mo st no ble wife and dear est childr enmy manliness and
 XXVII .
( FAM XI V
. . 57

resoluti on; for day and night c ome b efor e my eyes yo u r

wr e tch edness and sor r ow and th e weakness of you r
health Bu t ver y slight hopes of safety ar e h eld ou t to
me Many men ar e my enemies, near ly all ar e envio u s
.

of me it was a gr eat thing to expel me it is easy to ,

keep me in exile ; yet, as long as yo u have hop e I w ill

,

not fail you , lest ever ything se em to have be en lo st

thr ough me That I may have secur ity abou t which
.

y o u a r e a n x io u s ,
it is no w v er y easy, as even my
en emies wish m e to live in this u n for tu nate c ondition;
y et I w ill do what you bid me I thanked th e fr iends
.

y ou h a v e w i sh e d, a n d to D e x ipp n s g av e th a t le tt e r , an d
I wr ote that you had let me know abo u t their ser v ice .

I r ealize and ever y one says that ou r Piso is r emar kably

loyal and faithful to u s ; th e gods gr ant that wh en I ,

am with yo u and th e childr en , I

may delight in su ch a
so n in law ! My r emaining hope is in the tr ibunes of
- -

th e p eople and in th e measu r es of the

,
r st days ; fo r if

th e aair is po stpo ned, all is ev er SoI send Ar isto

. c

r itus to yo u at o n ce th at you may wr ite immediately

,

their r st measur es and the cou r se of th e whole matter

, ,

altho u gh I h ave to ld Dexippn s immediately to c ome

b ack and I have sent tomy br other tosend wor d fr e

,

q u ently ; fo r I am at Dyr r h achiu m at this time o n this

accou nt , to h ear as qu ic kly as po ssible what is going
on, and I am insecu r ity, for I h ave always gu ar ded this
town As soon as my enemies ar e said tob e c oming
.
,

th enI shall goto Epir u s As toyour writing that if I

.

wish you will come to me, althou gh I know you ar e

,

bear ing a lar ge shar e of th e bur den, I pr efer you wher e

y o u a r e If y.o u a cco m p lish wh a t y o u a r e do i n g, I o u g ht
to meco to y o u ; b u t if b u t th e r e is n o n e e d of w r i t in g
the rest Fr om your next , o
. r at an y r a t e yo ur s e co n d
letter I c an deter mine what I mu st do ; I on
,
ly wish
y o u wo u l d w r it e m e m o st di lig en tl y ,
tho u g h I o u g ht to
exp ect n ow th e r esu lt of th e affair , r ather thanan ac
58 S EL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICERO .

co
unt of it . T akeof your he alth , and b e assur ed
c ar e

that nothing is, or ev er h as been, dear er tome thanyou .

Far ewell, belov ed T er entia, whom I fancy I see , and so

I am weakened by my tear s Far ewell November 30 . . .

XXVIII .
( A r r . IV .

As oo n as I came toR ome and fou nd some o

s ne to
whom I cou ld safely entr u st a lett er toyou , I thou ght
my r st act o u ght tob e towr ite my thanks toyo u , since

I cannot expr ess th em in p er son, for my happy r etu r n .

Fo
r I felt cer t ain tot ell th e t u th
r that while ingiv
ing advice yo u had b eenn omor e r esolu te or long sighte d -

than myself, and indeed it was owing tomy defer ence

to you that I h ad been over anxiou s abou t r isking my-

p er sonal safety you at th e same time, however mu c h

,

y ou h a d sh a r ed at r st in m y m is t ak e or r ath er m
y ,

infatu atio n and p ar taken of my gr ou ndle ss alar m, h ad

,

mo st bitter ly felt ou r sep ar ation and had contr ib u ted ,

somu ch o f the lab o r an d exer tion th e z eal and p er se ,

v er an c e whic h I h ave go ne t o
,
war ds eecting my r e
tu r n And soI may now tell you with p er fe ct tr u th,
.
,

that even in all my unbou nde d happine ss and th e

delight of these c ongr atu lations I am r eceiving ther e ,

was j u st one thing wanting tocomplete the su m of my

pleasur e th e Oppor tu nity of seeing or b etter still of , ,

embr ac ing my dear fr ien d L et me b u t once h ave you

.

back and if ever again I let you gonay if I d onot

, ,

also exac t toth e fu ll all ar r ear s o f d elight inyo u r pleas

ant c omp anio nsh ip for th e p astI shall assu r edly think
myself sc ar cely deserv ing of this r etu r n of For tu ne .

I n my p o litical po sitio n I h ave r ecover ed all th at I

thou ght wou ld b e most diicu lt tor egainI mean my
old r ep u tation at th e Bar my inu enc e in th e Senate
, ,

an d my pop u lar ity w ith all good citiz ens ; mor e indeed
thanI had ever aspir ed to Abo u t my pr o per ty, h o
. w
 XXVIII .
( ATT I V
. . 59

e ver , I am inser iou s tr ou ble, for you know how it has

b e en br oken into , scatter ed to the winds, sc atter e d
r ight an d left ; and I want th e h elp no t somu ch of your

p ur s e , w hi ch I c o u nt a s m y ow n,
as of yo ur a dv ic e a bo u t
g e ttin g to g eth er a nd se cur in g su ch r em n an t s as a r e l eft
me . Next, th ou gh I may assume th at either yo ur
fr iends have wr itten to you abo u t all th e news, or it
has ev enr eac h ed yo u by th e r epo r t of messen g er s a n d
common r um or , still I will j ust mention br iey the
points that I take it you ar e most eager to lear n fr om
myself I star ted fr om Dyr r h achiu m onthe four th of

.

Augu st the very d ay that the law abou t me was car r ied .

I got to Br undisium on the fth ; th er e I fou nd my

dar ling T ullia r eady tomeet me, and that on h er own
bir thday, which, as it happened, was also th e anniv er
sar y of th e fo u ndation of Br undisiu m as a colon y, and
of you r neighbor , the Goddess of Salvation; th e coin
cidones was notic ed by the people of Br rm disium as an
obj ect of congr atulation On the eighth of Au gu st,
.

while at Br undisiu m, I lear ned fr om a letter of Quintu s

that the decr ee had beenpasse d in th e comitia centu
r iata with th e u n an imou s appr oval of all r anks and ages
an d a wonder ful expr essiono n the p ar t o f It aly : thenc e
I was e qu ipp ed by the good people of Br undisium that
ever ywh er e dep u tation s met me with con g r atu l a ti o n s
.

When I came near th e city, this went so far that not

a so u l of an y r an k who w as k now n to m y a tt e n d a n t
failed to come and meet me, exc ept such enemies as
fou nd it impossible eith er to conceal or deny the fact
of their ho stility Onmy ar r iving at th e Capu an gate
.

th e step s of the t emple s wer e cr owd ed with th e ver y

low est classes and after th ey had expr esse d th eir co
, n
g atulations by sh o
r u ts o f applau se, another cr owd like
it attended me with the same applau se all the way u p
to th e Capitol, while both in the For um and in th e
Capitol it self th e numbers wer e enor mous . The next
60 SELECT LETT ER S OF CICER O .

d ay, th e fth of S eptember , I expr essed my thanks to

th e Se nat e .Twodays afte r that, br ead being excess
iv ely dear , and cr owds of people having come to gether ,
r st by the th eatr e and th enin fr ont of th e Senate , at
the instigation o f Clodine a cr y was r aised that the
dear th of c or n was all br ou ght abou t by me Now th e
.

meeting of th e Senate for tho se v er y days being o nth e

qu estion of su pplies, and th er e being calls for P ompey,
not only fr om th e mob , b u t fr om th e better class of
people, to under take th e administr ation of th em, and
h e b eing himself anxio us fo r this, wh en th e p e ople in

sist ed o nmy name to pr opo se it, I did so, taking car e

to explainmy views in fu ll All the other ex consuls
.
-

being absent exc ept Messalla and Afr aniu s because

so th ey allegedthe y could n ot safely eXpr ess th eir
Opinions, th e S enate passed a decr ee onmy motionthat
Po mp ey should b e r equ est ed to under take that ofce ,
and a bill b e dr aft ed to th at eect . On the r e cital of
th e decr ee, as th ey br oke into applau se, ac cor ding to
the silly fashion nowadays, imm ediately o nthe r eading
ou t of my name, I made a speech, with the consent of
all th e magistr at es pr esent, exc ept o ne pm tor and two
tr ibu nes Next d ay ther e was a fu ll house, and all th e
.

ex c o n
-
suls w er e fo r gr anting P omp ey any r equ est h e
saw t tomake ; and h e, in asking fo r a committee of

fteen u nder him, named me r st of all, and said that

I sho u ld b e inev er y r esp ect his se cond self. Th e co n
su ls dr ew u p a law co n fer r ing th e management of th e
su pply o f c or n all over th e wor ld o n P ompey for v e
year s Messiu s pr opo sed an amendment giving him
.

fu ll contr ol over th e nances, with th e addition of a

eet and ar my and fu ller pow er s inth e pr ovinces than
wou ld b e gr anted to tho se who have to gover n them .

After this th e pr opo sal of the c onsuls and myself seems

moder ate enou gh this of Messiu s q uite inadmissible
, , .

Po mpey says he pr efer s our s ; b ut r eally, sohis frien ds

 XXVIII .
( ATT I V . .
XXIX ( ATT I V . . . 61

think, th e other . Th e ex consu ls,

headed by Favoniu s
-
,

ar e cr yin g ou t : I ho ld m y to ngu e p ar t icu lar ly b e c au se

the P onti c al co llege has as yet givenn oanswer abou t

my ho u se .If it tur ns ou t that they declar e the conse
cr ationillegal, I shall have a gr and site The valu e of .

the b u ildings u ponit will th enb e assessed by th e c onsu l

in ac co r d anc e with th e decr ee o f th e S enat e ; o n th e
other alter native they will pu ll down the bu ilding, c o rr
tr act for another intheir own names, and estimate th e
whole valu e for c omp ensation This is h ow my for .

tu nes no w stand ; for a state of pr o sp er ity, slipper y ; for

a state of adver sity, goo d Abou t my income, I am,
.

as yo u kn ow in gr eat tr ou ble Mor eover , ther e ar e

, .

one or two things at home which I d onot car e topu t

onpap er How c o u ld I fail tolove my b r oth er Quintu s
.

fo r the a ec tio n co ur age , and loyalty th at ar e so

,

mar ked in his char ac ter ? I am looking for you , and

en tr eat you tomake haste inc oming Come, too, with .

th e full deter minatio n nev er to let me want fo r yo u r

ad vice . I am now as it wer e star ting u pon a seco nd

, ,

life. Alr ead y cer tain p eople who stood u p for me in

my absence ar e beginning now I h av e c ome back, to
, ,
.

b e secr etly oend ed with o r op e nly j e alo u s of me I .

long int ensely tosee yo u again .

XXIX . IV .

If per haps fewer le tter s c ome toyou fr om me than

fr om oth er s, I ask not toattr ibu te it tomy car elessness ,

nor to my continu ed o ccu pation which althou gh exce ss , ,

ive, can not yet be sogr eat as tointer r u pt the c our se of

our aection and my du ty ; for as I came to Rome I ,

was infor med ther e was some one towhom to entr u st

my letter s ; soI have sent this second one I n th e last .

one I told you abo u t my arrival and what was the situ a
tion and c ond ition o f all my affair s fo r a stat e of pr o s ,
62 SELECT LETTER S OF CICER O .

p erity, pp er y for a state of adver sity, good After

sli ,
.

s en ding th at le tt e r , th e gr eate st c o ntest ar o se abou t my

ho u se I spoke b efor e the P o ntical college Se pte mber
.

30 I p ur su ed th e affair car ef ully, and if I ever , o

. r

e venn e v er , at an y oth e r t im e was su cc essfu l in sp e ak

ing th en c er tainly my gr ief and th e impo r tanc e of the

,

matt er gav e some for ce to my wor ds ; so my speech

ou ght tob e pu t into th e hand s of th e young I will .

soo n send it toyo u , thou gh yo u may n ot wish it Th e .

P ontic al c ollege passed the or der as follows : if neith er

by command of th e citizens nor by th e decr ee of the
p eople, he wh o said he had consecr ated the site was
app o inte d fo r th at matt er , an d neith er by co mmand of
th e c itiz ens no r by dec r ee o f the p eople was or d er ed to
d oit it was dec r eed that withou t violation o
,
f r eligion
th at par t of th e land c ou ld b e r estor ed tome I mmedi.

at ely I was c o ngr atulate d, fo r n oone dou bted th at my

ho u se was awar de d me, when su dden ly th at man
ascended th e r o str a in th e assembly which Appiu s h ad

con vened for him He annou nced to the people that

.

th e P o nti c al co llege h ad decid ed in his favor an d that

I was for cibly tr ying to take possession of my land .

He exhor ted them to follow Appiu s and himself and

defend th eir L iber ty Since indeed the wor st of the
.

b y stander s w er e p ar tly admir ing, par tly lau ghing at

-

th e madness o f the man, I det er mined no t togo ther e

un less when the co nsu ls, by a d ecr ee o f the S enate,

should d eter min e th at th e por tico o f Catnlus b e r esto r ed .

A full meeting of the Senate was held October 1 All .

th e po ntis whower e senator s wer e su mmoned fr om ,

whom Mar c ellinu s wh o was par ticu lar ly inter ested in

,

my b ehalf, whenh e was r st ask ed his Opin io n inqu ir ed

,

what they had fo und in their decision Then Mar cu s

.

L u cu llu s in th e name of all h is colleagu es r ep lied th at

, ,

the po ntis w er e th e j u d ges in matter s of r eligion, the

Senat e, of law ; he and his colleagu es had dec ided in
 XXI X ( A TT
. . IV . 63

r egar d to r eligion, and in the S enate would dec ide in

r egar d to law ; an d so each o f th em b eing asked his
opinion in his own plac e, gave many ar gum ent s in
favor of my case When Clodiu s was appr o ached he
.
,

wishe d totake u p the whole d ay, and did not br ing his
spe ec h to an en d , u ntil h e h ad spoken near ly thr e e
hou r s ; he was at last for ced by th e disaection and
u pr o ar of th e S en ate ; wh en th e decr ee o f th e S enate
was o n the point o f b eing c ar r ied acc or ding to th e
,

motion of Mar c ellinu s with the consent of all b u t one

, ,

S er ranu s vetoed the measu r e ; both c onsu ls began at

onc e to r efer th e veto to th e Senate Th en th e str ong
.

e st Op in io ns wer e expr essed th at it was th e pleasu r e of

the Senate that my hou se b e r e stor ed tome th e por tico ,

of Catnlus b e bu ilt and the au thority of th eir or der b e

defended by all omcials ; if any violence oc cur r ed th e ,

Senate wo u ld think th at p er son th e au tho r of it who

had veto ed the decr e e o f th e S enate S err anu s was
.

awed and Clo dius re tur ned tohis o ld sto r y ; thr owin g
ohis toga he ung himself at his son in law s feet ; h e
,
- -

demanded a night ; they d id not gr ant it, for th ey

r emember e d Jan u ar y 1 ; with dif cu lty it was nally
g r an t ed hi m a t m y w ish T
. h e n e xt d ay th at d e c r e e of
th e Senat e was p assed which I sent toyo u Ther eu p on .

th e consuls gave or d er s tor eb u ild th e po r tic o o f Catnlu s .

That por tico th e contr acto r s immediately p u lled d own

by consent of all ; th e consuls by th e j u dgment of th e
,

asse ssor s, estimate d th e bu ilding fo r me at

sesterc es b u t oth er mat te r s illib er ally ; th e hou se at

,

T u sculu m at sester ces th at at F o

,
r miss at 25 0,

000 se ste r c es ; this estimat e is qu e stio ned no t o nly by

all the best men b u t ev en by th e commo n p eople
,
.

Will you ask, Wh at indeed was th e r eason? Th ey

say it is my modesty th at I neith er r efu se d th e ter m s

nor boldly made a demand for mo r e ; b u t it is not th at

t
.

for even th at wo u ld h av e b een o f b ene in tr u th,

64 SELECT LETTER S or cics no .

these so
me men, my dear Titu s P ompou iu s, I say these
ver y ones, whom even you know, who h ad clipp ed my
wings, ar e u nwilling tohave th em grow again Bu t as .

I hope , now they ar e gr owing again; only come to me

b u t I fear that you may be late on account of our
fr iend Var r o Since you kno w what has been done,
.

lear n abou t the r e st of my thou ght I hav e allowed

.

myself to b e cho sen as embassad or by P ompey, so that

I am hind ered by nothing, if I wish, fr om having it in
my power , if th e next consuls hold anelectionfor cen
sor s, either to b e a c an didate o r to u n der take a fr e e
embassy topay vows at n e ar ly e ver y shr in e an d gr ove
-
fo r so my plan s d emand b u t I wished to have th e

p ow er eithe r of bei ng a c an d i da t e o r of le avin g in th e

beginning of su mmer , and meantime I th ou ght I was

in favo r with the citiz ens who d eser ved mo st at my
hands So ther e ar e my plans abo u t pu blic matter s,
.

b u t my pr ivate aair s hamp er me Yo

. u kn ow at what
expen se an d tr ou ble a ho u se is bu ilt ; my ho u se at

For mia is being r estor ed, which I can neith er par t

with nor se e ; my house at Tus cu lu m I have adver tised
fo r sale ; n ot easily doI give u p my cou ntr y seat Th e -
.

kindness of my fr iends has b eenexhausted inthe aair

which br ought nothing b u t disgr ac e Y ou knew, when .

y o u w ere aw ay an d t h o se w ere h e r e,
by who se z e al an d
r esour c es I wou ld have be en e asily su cc essfu l in e ver y

thing, if I had been allowed by my defend er s ; in this

matt er now ther e is gr eat tr ou ble ; the oth er things
which tr ou ble me ar e secr et ; my br other and dau ghter
love me . I await your c oming .

XXX .
( A TT I V. .

I kn ow certa m
that yo u d e sir e not mer ely to know
what is going onher e, b u t to know fr om me, not that
what happ ens befor e th e e yes of all may b e b etter
 XXX .
( ATT
. IV . 65

re por ted if wr itten by me than if e ither wr ittenor told

y o u by oth er s,
b u t th a t y ou m ay nd wh a t is m y att i
tu de of mind towar d the events of th e time , and what
my feelings and entir e situ atio n November 3 th e .

wor kmen wer e dr iven by ar med men fr om my land ;

the por tico of Catnlu s was p u lled down, which in ac
co r d an c e with a dec r e e of th e S e n at e, by ar r an ge m e n t
of the consu ls, was being r ebu ilt and had been r aised
as far as th e r oof they shatter ed the ho use of my
br other Qu intu s by thr owing stones at it fr om my land ,

then set it onr e by th e or der of Clodiu s, in sight of

th e city, by hu r ling r eb r and s amid the clamo r an d up
r o ar o f, I sh all no t say th e good men, as p er hap s ther e
ar e none, b u t of n ear ly all men . He r u sh ed abou t in
a fur y ; after this bu r st of r age h e medit at e d no thin g
b u t th e slau ght er of his foes ; h e w ent fr o m str eet to
str e et , an d op enly offer ed th e hop e o f fr eedom to the
slav es . Fo r b efor e, wh en he esc ap ed j u dgmen t, he
h ad a dicult and Op en c ase, b u t still a chance fo r

acqu itt al ; h e co u ld d eny, he could lay th e blame o n

other s, h e could defend some acts as if done by r ight ;
after th is r uin, th e r es an d th e plu nder , he is deser te d
by his follower s and har dly now r etains Decimus, the
u mp ir e, an d Gelliu s . He ad op ts the advice of slaves ,

and se es if h e kills Op e nly all whom h e wish e s that h is

c ase will no t b e mor e ser iou s in co ur t thanit is at pr e s
ent . So November 11, when I was going down th e
S acr e d Way, h e fo llow ed me with his men; shou ting,
the y su ddenly attacked me with stones c lu bs, and ,

swo r ds ; I r etr eat ed to th e v estibu le of the hou se of

T ettine D amie Tho se wh ower e with me easily kept

.

h is men fr om ent er ing ; h e himself co u ld have been

killed b u t I am b eginning to cu r e by dieting ; I am

w ear y of su r ger y Wh en he saw that he was being

.

d r iv enb y th e vo ices of all not to tr ial, b u t to a pr esent

to r t u r e, h e then mad e th e Catilines A cidini ; fo r he
66 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

made su ch an atte mpt on November 12 to stor m and

bu r n the hou se of Milo on th e Ger malu s, that at th e
fth hour he openly led u p menwith shields and d r awn
swor ds, an d others with aming to r ch es h e himself h ad

taken the house of P ublius S ulla as headquar t er s fo r

himself fo r that assault . Then fr om the h ou se of Mile ,

of the clan of Annius, Quintu s Flaccns led ou t br av e
men; he killed the most p r ominent member s of th e
r obb er ban
- d of Glodina; h e w ishe d Glodina hims elf, b u t
he h ad go ne into the house of Su lla Th enthe S e nat e
.

met November 14 . Clo diu s was at home, Mar c ellinu s

was eicient, and all wer e on th e aler t ; Metellus by a
tr ick u sed the time fo r sp eaking with Appius s h elp ,

also a friend of your s abo u t who se stability an d c o ur age

your lette r s have been mo st tr u th ful S estiu s r age d,
.

he thr eatened the state if his ele ctio nwer e no t abo u t

to take place ; when the Opinion of Mar c ellinus was
declar ed which he had wr itten that he embr ac ed inhis
j u dgment the whole c ase of my land, th e r es an d my
danger , and gave all this th e pr efer enc e to th e ele c
tions, Milo annou nced that h e wou ld take obser vatio ns
all the days of th e ele ction s The har angu e of Me te l
.

lus was u pr oar iou s ; Appius was impr u dent, and P ub lius
r agin g Y et this is th e whole matter u nl M ilo
.
; e ss
an nounced unfavor able omens in the Campu s Mar tins,
th e elec tion s wer e totak e p lace November 20, Me te l
.

lus came intoth e e ld in the middle o f th e n ight w ith

a lar ge ban d of men; Clo diu s did no t dar e to go into
the eld sin ce he had picked tr oops of deser t er s Milo.

r emain ed with gr eate st lo y till midday a m id at joy

g r gr e

on the par t of the men Th e conict of th e thr ee

.

br oth er s was disgr ac eful Th eir for c es wer e shatte r ed

.

an d their 8 0 d espise d ; yet Metellus d emand ed th at

anan nou nc ement b e mad e for him the next day in th e
F or u m ; th ere was no r e aso n why he should c ome by
night to the Campu s ; he would himself come at th e
 xxx .
( ATT I V . . 67

r st ho ur into th e comitiu m November 20accor dingly

.

Milo came into th e comitium by night ; Metellu s at

daybr eak sec r etly r an by near ly impassable ways to
the Campu s ; Milo follow s u p th e fellow in the wo o ds
an d d e c lar es u nfavor ab le o mens ; Met ellu s go es b ack
violently r epr o aching Qu intu s Flaccns November 21 .

was mar ket d ay ; th er e was no distur banc e fo

-
r two

days
November 23 I am wr iting this at the ninth ho ur
.

of th e night Milo now is inpossessionof the Campu s

. .

Mar c ellus the candidate is snor ing so lo u d that I who ,

am his neighbor , can h ear him ! The vestibu le of

Clo dius s hou se is said to b e empty, o

r at all events

ther e ar e only a few r agged wr etch es ther e withou t a

lanter n; they complain that e ver ything is being done to
him by my advic e, not knowing how mu ch cou r age and
pr u dence that her o has His valor is r emar kable I
. .

le ave o u t so me n ew r emar kable fac ts ; bu t this is th e

r esult I think the election will no t b e held I think .

P ublius, u nless he is killed befor ehand, will b e accused

by Milo ; if he Oppo sed him in th e cr owd I for esee he ,

will be slain by that ver y Milo He does not shr ink

.

fro m ac tion, he makes it known op enly ; he does not

fear the misfor tu ne whic h has be fallenme, fo r he will

ne ver follow th e advic e of any j ealous and faithless

fr iend, nor tr ust a noblemans indier ence At least I

.

am str on g in p p
ur o se e v en mo r e th an wh en inp r o sp e r

ity ; b u t my nanc es ar e at a low point As far as I

.

could while my br oth er Q u intu s r efu ses th at I sho u ld

b e entir ely witho u t moneyb y the assistanc e of my
fr iends I hav e r epaid his liber ality What plantoad opt
.

in r egar d to my po sition as a whole I dono t kn ow in

your absence ; sohastento come .
 SELECT Lariss a or CI CERO .

xxxi .
(Q . FR 11 . .

The le tter which you have read I sent in th e mo rn

ing ; b u t Licinius was ver y ac commodating in co ming

to me at evening after the adjour nment of the Senate,
in o r d er that I might wr ite to yo u if I wish e d what had

be en done Ther e was a fuller meeting of the Senate

.

than I had su ppo sed could b e in the holidays of De

cemb er . We ex c onsuls wer e pr esent and two consu ls
-

elect , an d P u bliu s Ser v ilius, Mar cu s L u cu llu s, Lepidu s,

Vo lcatius, Glabr io, th e pm to rs There was r eally a
.

lar ge nu mber of u s ; inall abou t two hundr e d L upu s .

had ro used o ur expec tation s He car efully u r ged his

.

measur es for th e land in Campania ; he was hear d in

u tter silen ce Y ou ar e not ignor ant of the facts of the
.

case ; he omitted none of my doings Ther e were some .

thr usts at Ce sar and attacks on Gollins P ompey, .

tho ugh absent, did no t esc ape censur e At the end of .

his speech, h e declar e d he wo uld no t ask fo r opinions,

lest he shou ld give u s the annoyance of u nanimous ex
pre ssions From th e disappr obationof th e W e befor e
.

an d fr om the pr esent silenc e h e knew th e opinion of

the Se nat e Milo th enspoke The assembly began o
. .
t

adjo ur n .ThenMar cellinu s said, Donot, L u pu s fr om ,

my silenc e j u dge either what I appr ove or disappr ove ;

I su ppo se what applie s tome applies to the others, and
for th is r easo n I say n o thing, for I do not think inth e ,

abse n c e of P omp ey, the ac tio nabo u t th e lan d of Cam

pania shou ld b e takeninto consid er ation Then L n .

pu s s aid h e wo uld not d et ain th e S en a te lo nger E u .

ciliu s rose an d began tospeak abo u t the char ges He .

r st indeed qu estioned Mar cellinu s ; when he had

str on gly in v ei gh e d aga in st t he s ch em es of Clodi us,
h is

res, mur d er s, and stonings, he gave it as his d eter mi

nat ion that he h imself sho u ld choo se j u dges thr ou gh
th oc ity pr in te r and after th e choic e of j u dge s was mad e
, ,
 xxxx ( Q . . FR 11
. .
xxxn ( FAM VI I . . . 69

th e ctions wou ld b e held ; whoever should hinder the

ele

r ulin gs w o u ld b e a p u b lic e n em y . Tho u gh th is d e ter

minationwas str ongly appr ove d, Caiu s Cato spoke on

th e Oppo site side, and also Caiu s Cassiu s amid the
str o ng disappr oval of the Senat e when they p r opose d
,

that the elections should take plac e before th e tr ial .

P hilippu s agr eed with L entu lu s . After war ds R aciliu s

asked my Opinion rst of tho se who ar e n ot in Ofce .

I spoke at length of the entir e violence and r ogu er y of

P u bliu s Clo diu s ; as a cr iminal, I accu sed him amid th e
c on tinu ou s and favoring applause of the whole S enate .

Vetu s Antistiu s u pheld my wor ds at su cient length,

not indeed ineloqu ently, and he took u p the case of
the tr ial and said he wou ld hold it as r st inimpo r t an ce .

The whole matter t ended in that dir ection; thenClo

diu s, being aske d his opinion began towaste time in
,

sp eaking ; h e was an g r y th at h e h ad b ee n t r eat ed with

insult and incivility . Then his follower s su ddenly

fr om the Gr eek cor ner and ste ps r aised a lo u d shou t, I
think dir ected against Qu intu s Sextiliu s and th e fr iends
Of M ilo ; with this fear coming su ddenly u po n u s, we
ad jour ned with gr eat dissatisfac tio n on all sides Y ou .

know the events of o ne d ay ; th e r est as I think will

, ,

b e po stpo ned toJanu ar y . Raciliu s is by far the be st

of th e tr ibu nes we have ; mor eover , Antistiu s seems to
b e my fr iend ; fo r P lan ciu s is wholly with me If you
.

love me b e c ar eful an
, d thou ghtful abo u t tr av elling by
sea inthe mon th of De cember .

with disor der in my bowels, and have not been able to

con vinc e th o se who wish my assistance that I was not
w ell sinc e I was not tr ou bled with fever To avo id
,
.

m I
th , t k
e o o r efu
ge in Tu sc u lum whenI had b een for
70 S ELECT LETT ER S OF CICER O .

twodays soweak as not even totaste a dr o p of water ;

an d so ,
r ed u c e d by f a in tn e s s a n d h u n g er , I d e sir ed
yo u r ser vic es mor e than I thou ght you needed mine .

I dr ead any disease, b u t par tic u lar ly the one which that
Ep icu r u s of yo urs suffer ed fr om fo r which th e S to ic s

d espise him, as h e says he is tr o u bled by dysenter ic

p a in s a nd str a n g ur y ,
o n e of wh i ch th e y th in k is t h e

r e sult of glu tto ny, the oth er of licentiousness Cer .

tainly I have dr eaded dysenter y ; b u t it seems to me

e ith er the chan g e of s c en e or r es t of m in d o r t h e a b a t
ing itself Of th e disease , which per h ap s no w has r u n its
c o ur se, has be e n in my fav o r .And yet do no t wond er
what I have done tobr ing this disor der u ponme The .

su mptu ar y law which seems topr o mote simplic ity was

the cause of my tr o u ble . Fo r while th e me n of elegan t

tastes wish tobr ing into favor th e pr odu cts of the ear th
which ar e not inclu ded by th e law, th ey dr ess mu sh
r ooms, v egetables, an d all sor ts o f h er b s, soth at noth
ing can be mor e palatable ; wh en I ate ver y fr eely of
them at the su pper for the new au gur at th e hou se of
Lentu lu s, I was seize d with a d iar r h ma wh ich has no t
ceased till this day S oI, wh o easily kept away fr om
.

lampreys and oy ster s, was led astr ay by be ets and mal

lows ; her eafter I shall b e mor e car eful Y et you , sinc e

.

y o u h av e h ea r d fr o m A ni c iu s fo r h e saw I was ill

had a ju st r eason, no t mer ely fo r in qu ir ing for me, b u t

also fo r comin g tosee me . I think I shall r emain her e
u ntil I r e c over , fo r I have lo st str e ngth an d e sh ; b u t
if I sh ake 05 my disease, I shall r egain th e r e st , as I
hope .

XXXIII .
( Q FR II
. . .

I wr ote toyou b efor e abou t all th at had h appened

u p toth at t ime ; no w I mu st t ell you wh at h as o c c ur r ed
sin ce Th e r ec ep tion o
. f th e for eign d epu tat io ns was

p os tpo ned fr o m th e r st to th e thir t eent h of Feb ruar y,

 xxxm ( Q . . FR . 11 . 71

business not bein g nished on the former day Onthe .

second, Milo sur rendered to stand his trial Pompey .

was incour t tosuppor t him, and at my request, Mar

c e llu e spoke inhis defen ce ; We came 05 with the ho n
ors of war The tr ial was adjou r ned until the seventh
. .

Meanwhile the d epu tations having been pu t off until

the thirteen th, the pr o vin ces tob e giv entoth e di er en t
qu e stor s and the grants to be made to the presto
w er e discu ssed, b ut ther e wer e somany lamentations
onthe state of the countr y for c ed u ponus, that nothing
Was settled Caiu s Catogave notice of a pr oposal to
.

r ec all L en tulus fr om his gover nment His son has pu t .

onmou rning Onthe seventh, Milo againappeared on

.

his tr ial . P ompey spoke, o r r ather in tended to, for as

soo n as h e r o se , the hir ed r owdies o f Clodine mad e su ch
an u pr o ar , lastin g too th r o u g ho u t h is w hole sp eec h , as

todr o wn his voice with their inter r u p tions, and even

w ith insults and abu se Well, when he mad e his pero
.

r ation fo-
r I mu st admit he show ed gr eat r esolu tion o n
the occ asio n, an d sofar fr om being conqu er ed by th em,
said his full say, sometimes evenwithou t in t err uption,
and in the end h ad su cc e eded in making co n sid er able

imp r essionafte r his per o r ation, I say, u p go t Glodin a;

wh er eu pon su ch an u pr oar was r aised fr om our side ,
fo r we had d e ter min ed he sho u ld ge t as good as h e

g a v e
, th at h e lost al l co nt r o l of h i s tho ug ht s,
hi s vo i ce ,

and his co u nten an c e This sc ene thou gh P ompe y had

.
,

all b u t nished speaking at eleven lasted till qu it e ,

one ; people meanwhile shou ting all sor ts of abu se,

cu lminating nally in the lthiest dogger el abou t Clo
dju s and his sist er F u r ious and wh ite with r age, he ap
.

p eale d to h is par tisans above the shou ting to say who

it was that was st ar v ing th e people to death ? His
r ow die s shou t e d b ack P omp ey
, Who was it that
.

wanted togotoAle xandr ia? P omp ey, they answer ed .

Who m would they v ote for to go instead l Crassus,

72 SELECT L ETTER S OF CI CER O .

th ey r eplied h e Was in the assembly at the time with
no fr iendly intentions to Milo Abou t two the Clo
.
a

dians began, appar ently at a given signal, tospit upon

our par ty This was toomu ch for our t emper When
. .

they began to hustle u s ou t of th e plac e, our men fell

u ponth em ; th e r o u gh s too k to th eir heels ; Clo diu s Was
t ur ned ou t Of the tr ibu ne, and ther eu ponI too ed for
fear of anything h app ening in th e r iot The Senate is .

thensu mmone d tomeet ; as for P omp ey, h e is ohome

still evensoI avo id th e Ho u se , no t liking o n the one
hand to hold my tongu e in su ch a cr isis, or onth e other
to defend P ompeyfor he was being attacked by Bibu
l , C
us ur io ,
F a vo n iu s, an d th e yo u nge r S av i
li us an d so
r u n th e r isk of o ending many good patr iot s The in .

qu ir y was adjour ned till next d ay ; Clod iu s gave notice

of postponing the tr ial till the feast of Quirinu s On .

th e eighth, the Senat e met inth e t emple o f Apollo , in

or der that P omp ey might b e pr esent He spoke onthe
.

qu estionwith consider able for ce ; nothing was decided

onthat day On th e ninth they met in the temple of
.

Apollo and passed a r esolu tionthat th e pr oc eedings u p

tothe eighth wer e a br eac h of p eac e . The same d ay
Cato deliver ed a vehement inve ctive against P omp ey,
an d thr o u gh the whole of his speech attacked him as
though he wer e actu ally inthe dock ; abou t me, str ongly
against my will, he spoke at length , an d in mo st at
ter ing ter ms . His denunciation of the b ad faith that
h ad been kept with me was listened to amid p er fect
silen ce by my ill wisher s P ompey mad e a veh ement
-
.

r eply an
, d allu d ed toCr assu s, saying in somany wor ds
th at he himself would take mor e pr ecau tion to gu ar d
his o wnlife thanAfr icanus who was mur d er ed by P a
,

p ir ius C a r bo , h ad do n
.e S o it see m s to m e th at w e

have gr eat stor ms beginning tobr ew , for P ompey qu ite

un der stands this, and makes nosecr et Of it tome, th at
lot s ar e bein g h atch e d a gain t h is life ; th at C ai s
u ~
p s
 xxxm ( Q . . FR . 11 . 73

Gate is backed u p by Cr assus, while some one is su p

l
py g in C lo di u s w ith f u nd s ; a n d th a t bo th of th e m a r e

being egged o n, not only by him, b u t by Cur io Bib ,

u lus, an d th e r est of his detr actor s ; and therefor e

g r e at c a r e j u s t n o w is n e c essar y if h e would n o t be e u

tit ely cr ush ed, with the demago gu e r idden pop u lace -

well nigh alienated fr om him, with the nobility h ostile

-
,

the Sen ate pr ej u dic ed and o

,
u r yo ung blood s r ead y fo r

an y r e ckl e s s d e e.d S o h e is fo r e a r m in g by s en,d in g

fo r men fr om th e c o u n tr y while Clodiu s is lling u p
,

h is gang of r owdies ; ther e is a bo d y of them no w be

ing go t r e ady fo r th e Qu ir in u s festival I nthis instanc e
.

we ar e far str onger than any for c es he can get by him

self ; an d besid es a str ong lo t ar e exp ecte d fr om Pic e
u u m an d Gau l, sothat we may even show ght against
Cato s not io ns abo u t Milo and L entulu s On the tenth

.

of F ebr u ar y S estiu s was su mmone d by a u s N er ins ,

an info r mer be lon i

g gn to t h e P u p in ia n t r ib e fo r b r,ih
e r y an
, d on th e same day by a c er t ainMar cu s T ulliu s
fo r br eakin g t h e p e ac e . H e w as th e n il l in b e d Of .

cou r se I went immediate ly tosee him at his hou se, and

place d myself entir ely at his ser vic ewher ein I was
actin g co n t r a r y to t h e ex p e ct a t io n o f m o s t p e op le who ,

thou ght I had some r eason for being a little annoyed

with him that I might enjoy both the satisfac tionand
the c har act er o f showing gr eat kindliness and gr atit u de,
and I mean tob e as good as my wor d Bu t in ad dition
.

toth e other s imp lic ated N er ins h as laid info r mation

,

again st Cu sin s L en tu lu s V atia and Caius Cor neliu s .

Th e same d ay the S enat e passed a r esolu tion, that all

political clu bs and electioneer ing associations should
b e dismisse d , and a law shou ld be pr opo sed to r ender
su c h of th em as might h av e r efu se d to goliable to the .

p enalties for br eak ing th e p eac e On the eleventh I .

d efende d Be st ia on his tr ial fo r b r ib er y b efor e the pr a c

tor, Ou aene Do mitiu s, in the centr e of th e For um,

 S EL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

ami s d t a vast c onco ur se ; and in sp eaking I happened

toallu de toth e tim e when S estine in the temple Of Cas
to r , being th en cov er e d w ith wo u nd s,
wa s o nly s a v e d
by the help of Bestia SoI arr anged her e a tting oc
.

c asion tosp eak in r efer en ce to th e c har ges th at wer e

now be ing r aked together against Se stius, and paid
him some gener al comp liments in which ever ybody ,

agr e ed This incident gr atied the good man exceed

.

ingly and I m ention it no

,
w to you bec ause in your let
ter s you have fr equ ently advised me to keep on good
ter ms with Sestiu s Thu s far I am wr iting on the
twelfth befor e daybr eak To
.

d ay I am going to dine
.

with P ompou iu s in honor Of h is wedding .

All that I need add abo u t my po sition is th at it is ,

one of dignity and inu enc e, as you have fr e qu ently

told me it wo u ld b e when I was afr aid to belie ve it ;
,

and all this my br oth er h as b eenwo

, n bac k for both of
,

u s by yo u r p atien c e r esolu tion and aection and I

, , , ,

mu st add by you r tact A hou se near Piso s par k that

, .

belo nged to L u cinius h as been hir e d for you ; bu t I

hop e th at in a few months after the r st of Ju ly, you ,

will mov e intoyour own You r h o u se on the Car ina .

h as b een taken o n lease by some ver y r esp ectable ten

ants, th e L amiaa I have had nolette r fr om you since
.

th e note fr om Olbia I am anxiou s to know how you

.

ar e getting o n and how yo

, u amuse your self , b u t mo st

of all tosee you r fac e again as soonas ever I may Be .

su r e my d ear br oth er , n
, ot to negle ct you r h ealth , and ,

eventho ugh it is win ter r ecollect that you ar e now liv

,

ing in S ar dinia Febr u ar y 15

. .

xxxx
v .
( Fm . v .

A mod esty almo st clownish held me back whenwith

you , tr ying oft en to p r opo se tho se thing s wh ic h n ow
mor e bo ldlyat a distanc e I sh all speak o u t fo
; r th e let
 xxx1v ( FA M. . v . 75

ter cannot blush I desir e with an eager ness incr edi

.

ble, and no t, as I think, blamewor thy, that my name

shou ld b e ho n or ed and exalted by your wr iting Thou gh .

y o u o ft e n h av e a ssur e d m e that you would d othis, yet

I wo u ld wish you topar don this haste of mine I h ad .

always co nc eived a high expectation of you r p er for m

anc es of this kin d, yet it has soexceeded my ideas and
has so fascinated, captivated, o r r ath er kin dled me,
that I wou ld wish as soon as possible that my deed s
sho u ld b e c ommemo r ated in yo u r an nals ; for not alone
the mentionwhich po ste r ity will make of me b r ings me
to a cer tain hop e of immor tality, b u t this desir e that in
my lifetime I may enjoy th e dignity of your testimony
or the pr oof of you r good will o -
r satisfaction o f yo ur
g e n iu s
. N or y e t whi le I w r it e th is a m I ig no r an t u n
d er what a bu r den of pr odu c tions which yo ,
u h ave

un der taken and alr eady begu n you ar e labor ing, b u t

,

since I see th e histo r y o f the Italian and civil war s yo u

have near ly nished and mor e over you have told me

,

y o u a r e b eg n
i n in g oth er su bj e c t s , I d o n o t lik e to lo se

the Oppor t u nity to r emind yo u to con sid er wh eth er yo u

pr efer to tr eat my deeds in connection with other s, or

as man y Gr eeks have done, Callisth enes in wr iting of
th e P hocianwar T imaeu s, th e war o
,
f Pyr r hu s, P olyh
iu s of th e Nu mantine war , all o f whom separ ated fr om
their ge ner al histor ies tho se war s which I have men
tio ned above tosepar at e you r self the civil str ife fr om
,

the war s with for eign enemies . I inde ed do not see

that for my glor y it makes mu c h d ier ence, b u t tomy
imp at ienc e it is o f some impor tanc e that yo u sho u ld

not wait u ntil you come toth e plac e, bu t should gr asp

at onc e that whole su bj e ct and p er iod And at the
.

same time, i f you r whole mind sh all b e devoted to o ne

sc en e an d char acter I alr eady fo
,
r ese e how mu ch r ich er

and mo r e dign i e d yo u r su bj e ct will b e .And yet I am

well awar e what pr esu mption I h ave in the r st plac e
76 S ELECT L ETT ER S OF CICERO .

in p u tting s ogr eat a bur d en u p onyou, for your occu

patiou canj ustify you in r efusing me then tooii d e
manding yo u to honor me w ith applause . What if
these d eeds seem to you not to be wo r th y o f ho nor !
Bu t yet, he who onc e has over stepped the b o u ds of
n
modesty, ou ght to b e entir ely and co mpletely pr eshmpt
uo us. SoI Openly ask yo u again an d again that you
honor these deeds mor e ear ne stly than per haps you
feel, and inthe matter negle ct the laws of histor y and
not deny that favor abo u t which yo u w ro te so char m
ingly in a pr efac e, by which yo u showed o u co u ld n ot
y
be bent mo r e thanHer cules in the stor y of Xenophon
by the allu r ements of pleasur e If friendship com
.

mends me to you str ongly, gr ant to it a somewhat larger

amo u nt than tr uth will allow . Bu t if I indu ce yo u to

un der take this, th ere will b e, as I am sur e, mater ial

wor thy your intelligence and skill Fr om the begin
.

ning Of the conspir acy to the r etur n of our men, a

moder ate volume seems to me can be collected . I nit
yo u will b e able todisplay your kn owledge of political
c han ge s by explain in g ca use s of r e vol u tio n or m a e st
ing r emedies fo r disasters whenyo u blame tho se thin gs
which you think shou ld b e censur ed and pr aise with
'

detailed ar gument s what pleases you I f you thinkthe.

matter sh o uld be tr eate d r ath er u nr estr ictedly in yo ur

u se fu l style,
you w ill note th e fai thl e ss n e s s, p
lo ts, an d
b e tr ayals of many men aimed at me Mor eover , my
.

for t u nes will su pply yo u with gr eat var iety inwr itin g,
f u ll Of a c er tain pleasu r e which can power fu lly hold
th e attention of men as th ey r ead .Fo r n othing is
mor e condu cive to th e pleasur e o f a r eader thandiv er
sity o f cir c u mstances and changes o f fo r tun e. Th ugho
they wer e not acceptable in exper ience, they ar e ye t
inte r esting in d escr iption for an accou n
,
t of trouble
wh ich is p ast, r ead in qu ietness, br ings satisfaction .

T r u lyto others whohav e su ffer ed nodiscomfort o ftheir

 XXXI V ( FAM V
. . . 77

own, loo king with nor eal gr ie f on the misfor t unes of

other s, to these compassio n is a pleasur e Fo r who o f .

us is not stirr ed with a cer tain pity at the death of

Epaminondas at Man tinea1 He or d er ed the spear head -

tobe withdr awnfr o m him after the r eply was made to

his inquir ies that his shield was safe, sothat he migh t
die, e veninthe ago ny of his wo u nd, peac efu lly and w ith
honor Whose enthu siasm as he r eads is not stir r ed b y
.

th e ight and r etur nof Themisto c le s i Fo r th e r egu lar

chr o nolo g y of ev en t s by itse lf in t e r es t s u s o n ly s lig ht ly

as a mer e list of pu blic oc c ur r enc es ; b u t often th e
dou btful and var ied for tunes of a noble man cause
wond er , expectation, joy, sor r ow, h ope, and fear ; if in
deed they come to a h appy issu e, th e mind is lled with
th e greatest pleasur e in r e ading Therefor e it will b e
.

more gr atifying to me if you h ave in mind tosepar ate

fr om yo u r continu ous wor k, in which you inclu de an
un inter ru pte d histor y of events, this dr ama, so to
speak, o m
f y o w n d ee d s a n d c ir c u m s ta nc es ; for it h as

dierent acts an d changes of plot and time Bu t I

'

have nofear of seeming to lay a tr ap for your favor by

paltr y attery, when I show that I wish mo st of all to
b e ho nored and pr aised by you . Fo r yo u ar e n ot su ch
a man as n ot to know what sor t of a per son you ar e
'

, ,

an d as no t r ather to r egar d as enviou s tho se menwh o

do not admir e you than tho se who pr aise you, as at
terc r s .More over , I am not sofoolish as towish tob e
commended toeter nal honor by one who himself doe s
not gainthe glor y of his ownintellect by commending
me For Alexander the Gr eat did not wish to b e
.

pa inte d by A pe lle s, n or a sta tu e of h im se lf to b e m ad e

by Lysippus, fo r the sake of con fer r ing a favor , b u t b e

cause h e th ought their skill wo u ld b e anhon or both to
them and to himself . However , these ar tists mad e
known to str anger s mer e ly likenesses Of th e perso n .

Eve nif ther e are none, illu str ious men ar e yet no t at
78 SELECT LETT ER S OF CI CERO .

all less famo u s ; and that Agesilau s th e Sp ar tan who ,

allow ed nolikeness Of himself to b e p ainte d o r car v ed ,

is none th e less celebr ate d th an tho se who took p ains

in that r esp ect ; fo r o ne little book of Xenophon in
pr aise of that king accomplished mor e than all pictur es
and statu es . And it will b e mor e impor tant to me,
b oth fo r gladn e ss of mind an d honor o f th e r ecollectio n,
if I sh all c o me into you r wr itings, than into tho se of
'

oth er men, b ecau se not only your geniu s will b e lav

ished u pon me as u po n T imoleon by Timmu s o r Th e

mistocles by H er odotus, bu t th e au thor ity of a man

mo st illu str iou s and r e sp e cte d known and t ested es
,

p ec ia ll y in t h e w eig ht iest a n d m o st im po r ta n t aa i r s of
th e r epu b lic ; soth at no t o nly th e c elebr ity which Alex
ander ob ser v ed wh en h e was at Sigeu m A chilles r e ,

ceiv ed fr o m H o mer b u t also th e power ful t estimony of

,

a gr eat and illu str io u s m an may app ear to b e b estow ed

onm e . That H ector as de scr ib ed by v iu s, pleases

,

me wh o not only r ej oice s that h e is pr aised, b u t
,

adds b y a p r aisew o r thy man . If you do not gr ant me

this th at is if anything hinder s yo
,
u I shall b e for ced
p er hap s todowhat some ofte n obj ect to ; I sh all my
se lf wr it e o f my life, yet with th e example of many
famou s men But in doing this th er e is this Obj ection,
.

as yo u kn ow : it is nec essar y for men towr ite mo der

at ely o f themselves if th er e is anything to pr aise, and
p ass over any fau lt ; tooit happens that faith is less,
au th o r ity is less, an d many nd fau lt and say the h er
alds in athletic c ont ests ar e mor e modest who pu t
c r owns o n oth er s and anno u nce th eir names in a lou d
voic e, b u t whenth ey themselves ar e awar ded a cr own
befor e the c o nclu sion of the contests, they call some
other h er ald s that th ey may not by their own voices
p r oc la im th em se lv es a s victo r s. Th i s I w i sh to avo id ,

and if yo u w ill u nder take th e matter , I shall avoid it ;

I ask you to doso Bu t that you may not wond er why,
.
 xxxx
v .
-
XXXV (ATT I V . . . 79

thou gh yo u h ave oftenshownm e that you wou ld u nd e r

take p u nctilio u sly th e r eco r d of my times and the r e
sults of my for tu n es, I see k yo u n ow soear nestly and
at su ch len th
g , th e d e sir e of h a st e of wh ic h I w r ot e

yo u at th e b e gin n in g ar o u ses m e, becau se I am e ager

inmind that other s shall know m e in my lifetim e fr om

your books, and that I while aliv e shall enjoy my fame .

Wh at you will do abou t this matter if it does not incon

v enience yo u , I sho uld like toh ave yo u wr it e me ; fo r

if you un der take the matter I will ar r ange not es of

,

ever ythin g; b u t if yo u d e la y till so m e oth er tim e I w ill ,

talk with yo u fac e tofac e . DO no t cease, b u t per fect

what you have begunand love me .

xxxv . IV
.

At P uteoli ther e is a r emar kable r epor t that P to lemy

is in power I am her e devou r ing the libr ar y of Faus
.

tus ; p er haps yo u had tho u ght the pr od u ction s of P u

teo li and L u cr inu m .Th ese too ar e not lacking Bu t, .

by Her cules ! as I have lo st all taste for oth er enjoy

ments on accou nt of th e state, so I am sustained and
r enewed by boo ks, an d I pre fer tosit o nthat little seat
of yours which you have beneath the bu st of Ar istotle,
than sit u ponthe cur ule chair of these men, and towalk
with you than with th e one with whom I see I mu st
walk Bu t chance will deter mine abou t that walk, or
.

if th er e is any to car e, Go d I wish when you cou ld

.

y ou wo uld go tose e m y c ou r t y ar d and

-
vapo r b ath and -

those things which Cyr u s has engaged todo , and ur ge

P hilo timus to b e qu ick in or d er that I may b e able to
b e inso me degr ee as well o as you ar e in these re
spects P omp ey came to Ou mm at the time Of the feast
.

of P ales ; he at onc e sent some one to me toinquir e for

me I am going to him on the mor ning of the day
.

aft er th e wr iting of this letter .

 SELECT LETT ERS OF CI CERO .

XXXVI .
( F A M
. VI I .

If any p ain of body or w eakness of health hinder ed

yo u f r o m c o m in g to t h e g am e s , I la y i t m o re to yo ur

oo d for tu n e t h an yo ur wisd om ; b u t if yo u thou ght

g
yo u o u g ht to ho ld in co n t em p t wh a t oth er s ad m ir e an d
ye t w e re u n w illin g to co m e , a l tho u h
g y o u co u ld a s far

as your h ealth was concer ned, I r ejoic e both th at yo u

wer e fr ee fr om bodily pain and wer e str ong inmind,

sin c e you despise d those things which other s foolishly
admir e . If only you have had some r eal enjoyment in
your leisu r e, into which indeed you could ente r with
zest sinc e yo
,
u w er e left almo st alon e in that c har min g
est ate of yo u r s . And yet I dono t dou bt that yo u sp en t
your mor nings with shor t r eadings in you r little cham
b er , fr om which yo u hav e mad e a view of you r S tab ian

estate by cu ttin g a w in dow , a n d b r o u g ht M ise n u m in

sight du r in g tho se da y s wh i le t ho s e w h o h ad le ft yo u

ther e wer e looking, h alf awake, at common b uoons

-
.

Yo u spent the r est of the day in tr u th in tho se delight

fu l o ccu pations which you had pr ov ide d ac cor ding to

your ownfr ee will ; bu t we had to endu r e what Sp ur iu s
Mmcius had appr oved On the whole, if you ask, the
.

ga m e s w e r e sp le n did ,
b u t n o t to yo u r ta s t e ; for I j u dg e

your s fr om mine ; for inth e r st place, in compliment

to the occ asion, tho se r etur ned to th e stage whom I
thou ght had left it for th e sake of their r epu tation;
one of these was intr uth your favor ite, o ur Alsop , b u t

he was so changed th at it was agr eed by all that he

sho uld b e excuse d fr o m actin g .W h e n h e h ad b egun

topr onounce th e o ath, his voic e failed him at the place,

If I knowingly forswear myself . Why should I r e
count the r est to you ? For you know the oth er enter
tainments which had no t even that char m which or di
nar y r epr esentations h ave For the enor mous par ad e,
.

the magni ce n ce o f wh ic h I h av e no dou b t th at yo u

 XXXVI .
( FAM VI I
. . 81

would ver y willingly have spar ed, evoked the mir th of

all, fo r wh at pleasur e dosixty mules fur n ish in Cly
te mnestr a ? Or thr ee thousand shields in the Tr o
ja n Ho r se ? Or th e v ar ie d e qu ip m en t of the in fantr y
an d cavalr y in a mock battle ? What people admir e
would have br ou ght no pleasu r e to you Bu t if you.

thr ou gh tho se days made u se of you r Pr oto genes, pr o

vid ed h e r ead an ything to you b u t my or ations, you
tr uly had not a little mor e pleasu r e thanany of u s ; for
I donot think you wou ld h ave car e d for Gr eek or Os
can far c es, especially wh en yo u c an see i f yo u wish

Osc an far ces in your town cou nc il, and yo u obj ec t

so to an ything Gr eek that you will not ev en go by

the Gr eek r o ad to your estat e . And why shou ld I su p
po se that you c ar e for athletes whenyou disappr ove of
the gladiator s ? P ompey himself makes it kn own that
he has thr own away pains and expense o n them Be .

sid es, ther e wer e two c o mbat s o f wild b east s each of

the v e days, magn
ic ent noo
ne denies it b u t what
pleasur e can they affor d a man of r enement when
eith er a feeble man is tor n by a power fu l b east, o r a

splen did ann ual is tr ansxed by the hu nting sp ear ? -

Y et th ese sights yo u have Often seenwh er e ther e has

been Oppor tu nity, and we who witnessed these saw

nothing new Onthe last d ay the combats of the ele
.

p h ant s c am e,
wh ich a m az e d th e co mm o n e o
p p , le b u t did
not delight them Bu t pity was ar ou sed, and the gen
.

er al Opin ionwas that these animals ar e in some d egr ee

akin to man . Y et that I may no t per hap s seem to yo u

tohave beenhappy dur ing th ese days and wholly at my

case, I n ear ly killed myself with pleading fo r your

fr iend, Gallus Caninius Bu t if the people wer e as

.

lenient tome as toE sop , I would assur edly ab andon

my pr ofession and live with you and other s like me ;
fo r even thou gh I was for mer ly wear ied of it, when

both my age and ambition ur ged me, and allowed me

82 SELECT LETT ER S OF CICERO .

then to defend no one whom I did not wish to, now

tr u ly it is nolife at all, for I d o not expe ct any r esu lt
fr om my toil and I am for c ed sometimes to d efend
,

menwho donot deser ve favor s at my hands for th e

sak e of th ose who do . And soI am thin king all kinds
of life fo r th e fu tu r e accor din g t o m y o wn plea sur e ,

an d I gr eatly admir e and appr ov e yo u an d your plan of

r etir emen t, and I am not distu r bed that you visit me so
se ldom b ec au se i f yo u wer e at R ome , yet I co uld n ot
joy you r br ight conver satio n, nor you mine su ch as

en

it is because of my mo st har assing c ar es ; if I disen

tangle myself fr om these, for I do not demand to be
wholly fr ee fr om them, I shall cer t ainly show you , who
have been for many year s considering nothing else,
what it is to live a life of r ened pleasu r e Take good .

care of your delicate health and see, as you do, that

y o u m a y b e ab le t o com e to m y v il l as, a cco m p an y in g
me inmy litt er . I have wr itten toyou mor e at length
than I am ac customed , not bec ause I have any spar e
time, b u t on accou nt of my love for you , bec au se you
hinted in a letter , if yo u r emember , th at I sho uld wr ite

y o u som e th ing to m a ke yo u less so r r y to h av e m iss e d

th e enter tainment . If I have done this, I am glad ; if
not, I yet console myself with this, that hereafter
y o u w ill co m e to th e ga m es and w ill se e m e , an d w i ll
not r ely onmy letters for you r amusement .

XXXVII .
( FAM VII
. .

I must beg yo u ton otic e how I assu me that you ar e

really one with myse lf, not only inwhatever concer ns
me in per son, bu t even my friends as well I had in .

tended to take Caius Tr eb atius with me wher ever I was

togo; no t intending th at he shou ld r etu r nwithou t my
having loaded him with ever y attention and ser vic e I
co uld show Bu t now that I have found, r st th at
.
 XXXVI I .
( FAM VI I. . 83

Po
an
mp ey was longer in setting ou t th an I had expected ,
d seco ndly, th at a cer tain r e aso nfor h esitating of

which you ar e not u nawar e seemed likely at least to
delay my star ting, if not to pu t a stop toit altogether ,
see wh at I h av e taken u po n my self to p r omise . I
found myself wishing th at Tr ebatiu s could look to you
fo r an p at o n a h h a d x c t ed to r eceiv e fr om me,
y r g e e e p e

and u po nmy wor d and honor I h ave pledged myself to

him fo r yo u r go o d will j u st as fr eely as I u se d tofor my
-

own Bu t h er eu ponan extr aor dinar y co incidence h ap

.

p ened tou s as thou gh to give evid enc e in favor of my

Opinion abou t you , and a pledge for your kindness .

Ju st when I was speaking with mor e than my u su al

ear n estn ess at my o wnhou se abo u t this ver y Tr eb atiu s
too u r c omm on fr iend Balb u s, in comes a letter fr om

yo u which c o n c lu d es as follow s : Since he has your

g ood wo r d ,
I w i ll make Mar cu s R u fu s ! ing o f Gaul if
y o u lik e ; o r if y o u p r ef e r i t,
p a s s hi m o n tothe car e of
L ept a, and yo u c ansen d m e somebody else to give a
place to Both Balbu s and I r aised our hands inwon
.

d er ; the c oincidenc e h er e was sostr iking that it seemed

someh o w tob e no chance, b u t the ver y ac t of v i
dence itself Ther efor e I send Tr eb atiu s to you , and
.

if my sending him was at r st o f my o wn mot ion, I

r e ar d it n
g o w a s a th in g to b e do n e on yo u r o w n invita

tion I hope, my dear Caesar you will so r eceive him

with your wont ed c o
.
,

u r te sy that wh ate ver favor s yo u

c o u ld b e ind u c e d by me to co n fer u pon any of my

fr iends, you will give this one fr iend the entir e b enet
of A s to his char acter , I p ledge myself fo
. r this an d
I am not u sing a hackneye d phr ase, su ch as you j u stly
r allied me o n onc e when I wr ote toyou abou t Milo, b u t
in tr u e R o man fashion as men speak who ar e no
,
t
empty tr ie r st h at a tr u er h ear t ed man an
-
, d a b r aver
an d less assu ming man do es no , t exist ; ad d to this th at
h e is quite at th e to p of hi s p r of e ss io n in c iv il law fr o m
84 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

his neq ualled memor y and vast lear ning I do not

u .

ask for him eith er a tr ibu neship or a pr efec tur e , or

ment ; what I doask you for is that you will show him
.

you r good will and g ener osity ; not that I have any oh
-

jection, if you are sodispo sed, to your c onfer ring u pon

him these little mar ks of distinction as well I n sho r t,
.

I pass him over , as they say, fr om hand to hand

tothat h and of your s so eminent alike in its str ength
an d its d elity . You mu st allo w me to be a little wo r
r yin g; the tho u ght of you m ight we ll fo r bid it, bu t I
see it will b e allowed Fare well, and let me always
.

en joy the aectionyou now have for me .

XXXVI II .
( FA X.VI I .

I nall the letter s whic h I send toCiesar or to Balbus ,

I add a j u st r ecommendation of you , not a cheap one,

bu t o ne which gives good pr oof of my good will towar ds -

yo u . O n ly p u t a sid e t ha t n onse n se of yo ur s and your

lo ngin g fo r th e c ity an d c ity life , and fo llo w with p e r

sever an ce and cour age th e c ourse you have set ou t u po n;

we your fr iends will par d on you this as th ey par d o ned
Medea Those who held the high citadel of Cor inth,
the wealthy matr ons, noble wo men, whom sh e per

su ad ed with gypsu me o v er ed han ds not tore ckonit a

fault that she was away fr om her native land ; for
Many have helped their interests, pu blic and pr ivate,
far fr om their co u ntr y ; many there ar e who passed
their lives at home, and are there fore unsu c cessfu l .

Yo u wou ld surely have been amo ng that number if

I had no t dr iven yo u for th . Bu t I will wr ite mo re

at an other time Y ou who have taught cau tion to

.

other s, must be careful not tobe caught by the men

gh ting inchar iots, and as I began by qu oting Medea,
 xxxrx ( Q . . FR . II . 85

W
al ays r eme mber this : He who cannot be ne t him
self by his wisdom, is wise for nopur po Take

se . care

of your health .

XXXIX .
( Q FR I I
. . .

Whenyou r e ceive a letter fr om me by the h and of

anaman u en sis, u n der stand that I have not anatom of
leisur e, and if fr om my own hand , that I have ver y lit
tie ; and believe that I have never be en mor e pr esse d
by cases and tr ials, and this too at a time of year mo st
Oppr essive by r eason of su ltr y h eat Bu t I mu st o
. n
dur e these things since you sour ge me, nor must I act
soas tosee m tofail Of yo ur an d Caesar s hope and ex

p ec ta t i o n , es p e c ially sin ce ,
if th is is so m e wh a t di ic u lt,

I am likely to gain by this wor k gr eat favor and honor .

So , a s it p le ase s o
y ,u I a m d e vot ing m y en er g y no t to
od e nd the mind of any one, and even that those ver y
ones whoare sorr y that I am associated with Cwsar ar e
onmy side, and intru th tho se wh oar e impar tial o r in

cline d tothis sid e b oldly ch er ish and u phold me When .

the violent disc ussion abo u t b riber y was going o n in

the Sen ate , becau se th e con su lar can didates had gone
to su ch lengths that it was not to be bor ne, I was not
inthe S enate ; I hav e resolved no t to make any move
towar ds any r emedy fo r ad air s of th e state with ou t

str o n g su p p or t. O n the d a y on wh ic h I w r ite th is ,

Dr usus will b e ac quitte d of collusion by th e tr ibu nes of

the tr easur y, as a nal result, by four votes, thou gh the
sen ato r s an d nights voted against it I am going to .

defend Vatinius this afternoon; that is aneasy matter .

The electionis pu t into the month of September The .

trial of S caur us will so on take place, and I shall be

conc erned init I have not appr oved at all th e T able
.

Co mpanio ns of Sophocles, thou gh I see the play was

re n d e r e d wittil by you I n o w co m e to that whic h
y .
86 SEL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

per hap s should have come r st ; how pleased I am with

a letter fr om Br itain . I fear ed th e oc ean, I fear ed th e
c o ast of the islan d I do not indeed over look the oth er
.

danger s, b u t they br ing mor e he p e thanfear , and I am

mor e agitate d by these hopes thanby fear I see you .

have a ne su bj ect for wr iting ; what a plac e you ar e

in! What kinds o f things and plac es, what cu stoms,
what tr ibe s, what cont ests, and what a leader you have
I will gladly help you as you ask, with what you wish,
,

an d will send the ver ses to yo u which yo u r equ e st, an

owl toA thens Bu t I think you ar e keeping me in the

.

dar k ; and how, my br other , did Caesar tr eat my ver ses !

Fo r he wr o te me he had r ead th e rst book, an d it was
su ch good Gr eek that he said h e had n ever r ead better ;

b u t th e r est to a c er tain plac e was too c ar elessly wr it

ten fo r I choo se this expr ession T ell me tr uly, .

whether the su bject or the style did not please him .

Ther e is nothing for you to fear ; for I shall b e not one

b it less pleased with myself Wr ite abou t this matter
.

can didly and ina br other ly fashion, as is you r wo nt .

XL .
( Fm . VII .

I have r ead your letter , fr om which I under stand that

ou se e m to C assar to b e a won d er fu l la wy e r Y o
y u .

have r easontob e glad th at you ar e ina countr y wher e

ou ar e takenfo r a wise man; if yo u h a d g o n e to B r it
y
ain, it is cer tain that noo ne even in that gr eat island
wou ld have been mor e lear ned Y et int r u thlet me

.

laugh, fo r yo u pr ovok e my lau ght er I am almo st en

v iou s of yo u , th at witho u t askin y o u w e r e in v ited by
g
him whom other s c annot appr oach, no t bec au se of his
hau ghtiness, b u t his lack of leisu r e Bu t inyou r letter.

yo u wr ote me n othing of you r aair s which I assur e ,

y ou I am as mu ch inter ested in as in my own I am .

mu ch afr aid that you ar e cold in your winter qu ar t er s ,

 XL .
XLI ( Q. . FR 111 5 ,
. . 87

soI think yohould have a r e plac e with a br ight

u s -

r e in itthis is also the Opinionof Mu ciu s and Manil

iu se spe cially as yo u ar e n ot r ich in militar y cloaks .

At the same time I hear that now you ar e all war m

en ou gh wher e you ar e ; at this news I fear ed gr eatly for
y ou . Bu t in th e ar t of war yo u ar e mu ch more can

tiou s than inyou r pr ofession, as you wer e u nwilling to

swim inth e oc ean ,
tho u g h ve r y fo n d of s w imm in g, and
tosee the char ioteer s, yo u whom we used n ot to be
able to cheat o u t of a blin d gladiator Bu t I have .

j ested enou gh for now How ear nestly I have wr itten

.

abo u t yo u toCe sar , yo u kn ow how often, I Bu t I have .

alr ead y c ease d lest I sho uld seem to distr u st the good
will of a most gr acious man, who is most consider ate
of me ; and yet I thou ght I ou ght tor emind him in my
last lett er .I did so; what I have accomplished I wish
yo u wo u ld let me kn ow, and at the same tims wr ite me
abou t all your cir cu mst anc es an d plans ; fo r I wish to

know what yo u ar e d oin g, what ar e your expe ctations,

an d how long yo u thin k you will b e gone fr om me .

Fo r this I wish yo u co uld b eliev e, th at the on ly comfor t

to make me bear mor e easily the separ ationfr om you is
that I know it is an ad vantage to you ; b u t if it is not,
we two ar e exceedingly foolish I in not dr agging you ,

to R ome, you in not ying hith er I am sur e that a .

sin gle in t er vie w , ser io us or jo c o se , b e tw e en u s w ill

b e wor th mor e, I will no t say than o ur en emie s, b u t our

br other , th e d ui Th enlet me know abou t ever y

.

thing as soon as po ssible ; I will aid you by consolation,

ad vic e, o r ac tio n .

XL I .
( Q FR I I I
. . . 5 and

I nr egar d
to your qu estionas towhat I have d one
abou t tho se books which , wh en I was at Cu mw, I deter
mined towr it e, I have not abandoned my att empt , nor
am I doing so , but oft en alr ead y I have chan ed the
g
88 SELECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

whole plan and meth od of the wor k ; for I nish ed

twoboo ks in which I r epre sented a discu ssiono n the
nine day festival which occur r ed in the consu lship of
-

Tu ditanus and A quilius a little befor e the d eath of

Afr icanu s . It was betweenmyself and Lwliu s, P hilus,
Manilius, P ublius R u tiliu s, Quintu s Tu ber o , and the
son s ia law of Lwliu s, Fan
- -
nius and Scaav ola . The dis
cu ssio n, which lasted for nine days and o ccu pied nine
books, was in r egar d to the best condition of a state
an d the best c itizenassur edly this wor k was clear ly
pu t to g eth e r a
,n d th e dign ity of the c har ac ters ad de d
some weight to th e tr e atise . Wh en these books of
mine wer e r ead in T u sc ulu m befor e S allu st , he su g
gested to me th at these su bj ec ts cou ld be tr eated with
g re at er w eig ht if I should speak in my own char acter
abo u t the state, espe cially as I was no t Her aclid es
Po nticus, bu t of co nsu lar r ank, and one who was eu
a
g g e d in m o st im p o r t ant a f
f air
. s W h at I a ttr ib u te d to
menof ancient times seemed as thou gh it wer e a fabr i
cation It was well in that wor k of mine on the ar t of
.

or ator y that I took th e disc ussionfr om my own mo u th

an d gav e it totho se with whom I was acqu ainted ; and
to othat Ar istotle sp eaks, who wr ote on the state and
the go od citizen He inu enced me and the mor e b e
.
,

c au se I co u ld n ot tou ch on th e gr eatest agitations of

our state, becau se they wer e of later date thanthe time
of those who m I su pposed tobe speaking Bu t indeed .

I h ad pur posely adopted this plan at th at time lest I

sho u ld o ffend an y by co m in g in toour o w n tim e s . Now
I will avoid this, and I will myself sp eak with you ; ye t
I will send you what I have b egun if I c ome to R ome .

Fo r yo u will su ppo se, I h av e n odou bt , that th ese books

have no t b een givenu p by me with ou t consid er able r e
lu ctance . I am singu lar ly pleased with the favor of
Cwsar , o f which yo u h ave wr itte nme ; I d on ot gr eatly
depend o nthe pr omises he makes I dono . t thir st fo r
 xm Q . . FR . 111 5 , 6
. . 89

hon or nor desir e glo r y, and I await the co ntinu anc e of

his go od-will r ath er than th e r esu lt of his pr omises ;
ye t my life is one of su ch eor t to please him and su ch
labo r as if I wer e looking o u t fo r wh at I do n ot ask .

As toyou r asking me abou t making ver ses, it is incr edi

ble, my br oth er , ho w mu ch time I need, and I am not
su icien tly in spir ed in min d to compo se what you wish .

S u bj e ct s tr uly fo r thin g s wh i c h I m y se lf c a nnot e v en

followinthou ght you ask fr om me, you who exc el all in

y o u r s ty l e of u en c y an d expr essio n Y et I wou ld do
.

it if I wer e able, b u t as yo u can b u t kn ow, for poetr y

one needs a c er t ain ch eer fu lness of sp ir it which the
times we live incompletely take fr om me I do indeed .

withdr aw myself fr om all pu blic car es, and devote my

self toliter atu r e ; yet I will c o n fess to you something
which I ear nestly wish I co uld hide fr o m you above all
oth er s I su er angu ish, my dear est br other , r eal an
.

g u i sh ,
to thi nk th a t th er e is n o c o n s tit u t io n ,
no a d m in
istr atio n of j u stice, and th at , at a time of life wh en I
ou ght tob e enjoying my pr op er inu ence inthe Senate ,
I have toto il at the Bar or to co nso le myself only by
p r iv a t e em p lo y m e n t s in lit e r at u r e wh ile th at a i m
which fr o m a boy I had p assionately d esir ed, ever to
e xcel an d to b e abov e oth er s, has wholly failed ; my

en emie s I mu st p ar tly ab stain fr o m attackin g, p ar t ly

mu st defend ; not only my inclination, b u t my ver y
hatr ed is not fr ee ; and that of all ar ou nd me I have
,

only fou nd Caesar , to love me as mu c h as I would b e

loved , o r ev en ( as som e th in k ) to lov e me at all Y et .

ther e is nothing of su ch a natur e that I should not b e

g r e a t ly c o nso led e v er y d a , b u t it will b e the gr eate st
y
c on so lat ion if we ar e to geth er . Now to these tr ou bles
is add ed th is gr ievo u s w ant of yo u . If I had defended
Gab iniu s as P ansa tho u ght I o u ght to have done, I
shou ld h av e b een r u ine d ; tho se who hate him
they
ar e o f all r an ks o n acco un t o f him whom they hate
 SELECT L ETT ER S OF CI CERO .

id b e beginning tohate me I h eld my position, as

.

I think , u ncommonly w ell, soas todo only somu ch as

all might see ; and in ever ything, acco r ding to you r ad

vice , I tur n myself pr eeminently to leisu r e and qu ie t .

Fo r yo u r book, Tyr an niois an idler ; I wou ld say Chr y

sippus, b u t it is a labo r iou s matte r and is a task fo, r a

diligent man; I feel it is a to ilsome wo r k, an d make

little pr o g r e ss tho
,
u gh I u se all diligen c e For L a
. tin
wr it er s in tr u th I d onot know wh er e totur n; soincor
r ectly th e y ar e e n r olled and offer ed fo r sale, yet I will

not neglec t wh at c an b e do ne Cr eb r iu s as I befor e

.
,

wr ote you , is at R ome and while h e confesses that h e

,

owes you ever ything, h e ob stinately r efu ses p aym ent .

I suppose that th e ac count was made up fr o m the tr eas

u r y, while I was away .

When you wr ite you have completed fou r tr agedies

in sixt een days wo u ld yo
,
u w ish to bor r ow an y ng
t h i
fr om another , and ask for a lo an, when you have wr it
ten th e
Electr a and the

Tr o ades
I am u nwill
ing to b e an idler , and to think th at
know thyself
was said o nly to decr ease pr ide b u t tr u ly that we ,

may know ou r own r eso ur c es Bu t I wish you wo u ld

.

ri
se n d me these of you r s and the E gona
This is .

long enou gh fo r twolette r s .

XL II .
( FA M VI I
. .

I wonder why it is that you h ave c eased wr iting to

me ; m y fr iend P ansa has infor med me th at you have
be come anEpic u r ean A glor iou s camp tojoin What
.

wou ld you hav e done if I had sent you to T ar entu m

and no t to S amar ob r iv a ? For some time b ac k I h ave
not been satised with you , since you took u p the sam e
view s as my fr iend Z eins Bu t how will you defend
.

c ivil law, wh en yo u d oe v er ythin for th e sak e of yo ur

g
self, no t of the citizens ? What will b ecome of that
 XL II ( FAM
. . VI I .
XL III ( FAM . . VI I . 91

fo r malpledgeas th er e shou ld b e good condu ct among

goo d m en fo r wh a t g ood m an i s th e r e who do es no th
ing except o n his own accou nt ? What r u le of r ight
will you lay d ownfor division of a common stock when
nothing canbe common among men who measu r e all
things by their ownpleasu r e ? Howwill you b e pleased
toswear by the statu e o f Ju pit er , when yo u know J u

piter canb e angr y at noone ? Th en what will b ecome

of th e people of Ulu br aa if you have deter mined it is
wr ong tob e a politician? Soif you r eally ar e deser t
ing us, I am sor r y ; b u t if you mer ely nd it convenient
to agr ee with P ansa, I excu se you Bu t wr it e o cca .

sionally tome what you ar e doing, and what you wish

me to do or take char ge of for yo u .

XL III .
( Fm . VI I .

I h ave r ec eived sever al lett er s fr om you at onc e

whic h you sent at dier ent time s ; in them almost
ev er ything p le a se d m e ; f or th e y s how e d th at y o u ar e

br ave and ear nest in endur ing your militar y ser vice
w ith r esolu tion I have h ad some su spicion that you
.

d id no t have th ese qu alities, thou gh no t as I have per

c eiv ed an y w e ak n e ss in yo ur di sp osit io n,
b u t I have
thou ght it was bec au se your longing for me made you
un easy .Ther efor e go on as you have b egu n; h ear
you r militar y ser vice steadfastly ; believ e me you will ,

g ain m any t hin gs I.w ill r en e w m y co mm en d at io n a t

a p r oper occasion I wish you to know th at it is no
.

less a car e to me th an toyo u that you r sep ar ationfr o m

me should b e as pr otable as po ssible to you ; th er e
for e, since you r bonds ar e u nsafe, I send you a small
Gr eek o ne in my own wr iting I wish you tokeep me .

infor med abou t th e asp ect o f th e Gallic war ; I tr u st

mo st the re por t of th e gr eatest c owar d Bu t tor etu r n
o
.

to y ur letter s, almo st ev er ything was exc ellent , b u t

92 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

this I wond er at ; for whois accustomed togive m y

copies of the same or iginal, whowr ites with his on
hand ? I appr ove indee d of your writing o n a palirap '

sest, b u t I wo n der what ther e was onthat bit o f paper

which you pr efer r ed toer ase r ather no t towrite these
wor ds, exc ept per haps you r legal d ocuments ; for I do
not think you destr oy my letter s inor der toinscribe
your s Doyou meanto te ll me that you cannot get o
. n
at all ? That you ar e fr oz enwith th e cold ? That yo u

have not evena sheet of paper left ? Well, it is your

ownfault for taking your mod esty ou t ther e with yo u,

an d no t leaving it behind with me I shall eamestly

.

commend you to Balbus when he goes toyo u Don

. ot
b e su r p r ised if ther e is a long inter val b e tw een m y let
t er s ; for I am tobe away inth e month of Apr il T his .

letter I have wr ittenfr om P o mptimus, having come to

th e house of Mar cus E milin e P hilemo , wh er e I a m
withinhear ing of my noisy clients, for whose fr iendship
I am indebt ed to you ; for it appear s at Ulubrw that
they have ar oused all the str ength of their cr eaking
inmy honor . F ar ewell .

XL IV .
( FAN V
. .

I hav e not wr ittenyou lately, no t b ecause I have fo r~

g ott en our fr iendship or c eased m y c or r esp d en

o n ce
with you , bu t because th e for mer par t of o ur separ atio n
was a time of dej ectiondu r ing which the state an d my
self wer e both m in ed, and after war d s I was kept fro m
wr iting by your undeser ved and severe misfo r tunes .

Whenindeed a sumciently long time has elapsed and I

have ear nestly thou ght ov er your u pr ightness an d
gr eatness of mind , I think it would no t b e in consistent
with my p r inc iples towr ite this to you ; I defended yo u,

I llllilll S L ittiu s both in tho se ear ly times wheninyo

'
, ur

exile you were attacked by j ealo u sy an d slan der, an d

 XLI V .
( FAN V . . 93

wheninthe tr ial and danger of yo u r be st fr iend you r

accusation was in vo lved, as car efu lly as I cou ld, I
u a r d ed yo ur in ter ests, an d l a t ely, o n m y r e c en t t n
g r e ur

toI taly, whenI would have takenoffenc e at the affair

which had beenmanaged oth er wise than I wo uld hav e
advi ed if I had been presen t e t i n n oth i n did I f ail
s , y g
y o ur ca u se ; an d a t thi s t im e , w h e n ill
-
fe e lin g a r i si n g
fr om scar c ity of cor n, yo u o wn pr ivate enemies, and
besides them th e pr ivate enemies of your fr iends, th e
c or r u ptio n of the j u dges, and many other p u blic iniq ui
ties had pr evailed against the tr u th of th e case itself, I
have failed yo u n either in action ,
a dv i c e ,
to il, fa vo r,

no r in evid en c e Ther efor e having scr u pu lou sly and

.

p u n c ti lio u sl y a tt e n d e d to a ll t h e du t ie s of fr ien d ship , I

felt I ought no
'
t toomit this, to ur ge and d emand yo u

toremember that yo u ar e a man an d a her o, that is ,

that yo u e nd ur e with wisdom these common v icissi

tudes of fo r tun e whic h n oone of u s can avo id and for ,

which n oo ne is answer able ; r esist br avely the attacks

01 go od or evil for tu ne, and consid er that both in ou r
sta te and inothers which ar e migh ty su c h misfor tunes ,

have happened to many br ave and excellent men

thr o ugh un j j g
ust u d m e n t s . I w is h it w ere n o t th e tr u th
that I am wr iting, b u t yo u ar e ban ish ed fr om a state
inwhic h there is nothing tothe satisfac tion of a w ise
man! I f I wr ite nothing to you abo u t yo ur son, I fe ar
th at yo u will thin k I have no t taken th e notic e of h is
o
g d o n ess w hi ch it d e se r v e s , b u t i f I w r ite e v er yt h in g
which I know, I am afr aid I shall r enew you r longing
an d gr ief ; yet yo u will do mo st wisely if yo u con sid er

that his a cctio n u pr ightness, and indu str y ar e you r s

, ,

an d gowith yo u wher ever yo u ar e ; fo r what we grasp

inspirit is noless our s thanwhat we se e with o ur eyes .

Sohis r emar kable virtu e and su r p assing love to you

ought to be a gr eat comfor t , as well as the r est of u s,
whoesteem you now and always, not for your for tune,
94 SELECT LET TER S OF CI CER O .

but your goodness, and espec ially your consciousness

whenyou th ink th at nothing wh ich h as happened has

b een deser ved by you , and add this thou ght, that wise
men ar e distur bed by b aseness, not chance ; by th eir
own faults, and not th e assau lts of oth er s And in r e .

memb r ance of our for mer fr iendship and the goodness

and c o nsid er atio n of your so n, I shall nowher e b e want
ing toc omfo r t yo u or imp r ove you r for tu ne ; if ther e is
anything abo u t which yo u wr it e me, I will make yo u

sur e yo u have n ot wr itteninvain .

XL V .
( Fm . III .

It to my wish and expectationthat I mu st

is contr ar y
g o i n to t h e p r ov in c e wi th mili tar y a u tho r ity A m o ng .

my many uneasy thou ghts and r eections, th er e comes

to me this one consolation, that no one could ever
c ome toyo u inmor e fr ien dly spir it th an I, no r c o uld I

r ec eive a pr o vince fr om any one whowould give it to

me insogood a conditionand sofr ee fr om diculties .

Bu t if yo u h av e th e same h ep e o f my good will towar d -

o
y ,u a ssur e d ly it w il l ne v e r fail yo u By th a.t c lo sest

tie b etween u s and your char act er ist ic gener osity I ask
and b eg yo u again an d again, espe cially by whatever

means you can and you have many at your command
-
to give att ention to and look after my pr o sp ects .

Yo u see by th e de cr ee of th e S en at e I mu st acc ept the

g ov e r nm e n t of th e p r ov in c e. If y ou w ill tr an s f er it a s

smoothly as po ssible tome, th e r un ning ou t, as I may-

call it, o f my appoint ed per io d will b e easier What .

y ou c an d o in t h e a ffair is a m att er o f yo ur o w n di s

cr etion I ear nestly r equ est you todo whatever may

.

occu r to you as u sefu l to me I wou ld wr it e more to

.

y ou if,e ith e r yo u r k in d ness o r our fr ien d shi p su ffe r ed

me to dwell lo nger on th e subj ect or if the matter
.
,

needed wor d s and d id not r ather speak for itself I .

 XLV ( FAM I I I
. . .
XL VI .

o d like toper su ade you that I shall hav e contir

sh ul

pleasur e if I know you ar e looking after my inter ests .

XL VI . V .

I tr uly sa w your feelings at my dep ar tu r e, and am

witness tomy own state of mind ; all the mor e mu st
y o u s e e to it th at n o n e w de cr e e may be mad e th at th is

lo ss which we feel may no t b e fo r mor e than a year .

Yo u hav e c ar ed well fo r An niu s Satu m inu s With r e

.

ga r d to g ivi n g s e c u r ity ,
I as k o
y ,u as lo ng as yo u ar e

at R ome, tod oit fo r me yo ur self ; th er e ar e also so m e

se c u r ities which might b e given by mor tgage, as fo r

examp le o nmy Mennian or Atilian far m I n the c ase .

of Oppius, I am gr atied by wh at you have done, and

par ticular ly becau se you have pr omised payment of
th e 8 00 se st er c es . This I wish by all means to b e
paid, even tho u gh I have tobor r ow for it soas not to
wait for th e fu ll exact ion of all debt s d u e me N ow I .

co me to that line of your letter which was wr itten

acr o ss at the en d o f it, inwhich yo u r emin d me of you r
sister . This is th e stat e of affair s ; as I came to Ar pi
num, wher e my br oth er came tome, our conver sation ,

an d that a long o ne, was pr eeminently abou t you ; fr om

this I c ame to those things which you and I h ad said
togeth er in T u sculu m abou t you r sister I never saw .

su ch mild n e ss an d gentleness as my br oth er manife ste d

towar d her , sothat if ther e was any annoyanc e o n ac
cou nt of exp ense , it was not appar ent So that d ay .

was p assed, and the next d ay I left Ar pinum Qu intu s .

was obliged tor emain at Ar c anu m on acco u nt of th e

day, b u t I r emained at A q uinu s, b u t dined at Ar canu m .

Yo u kn ow this far m ; as we arr ived Qu intu s said po

,

litely, P o mponia, do yo u in vit e th e ladies wh ile I ask

the gentlemen .

Nothing as it seemed tome c ou ld
, ,

have been mor e gentle either than his wor ds, his sp ir it,
96 SELECT LET TER S OF CI CERO .

or his expr ession Bu t she in my h ear ing said, I am

.

only a str anger her e

This, as I think , occ u rr ed b e
.

cau se Statiu s h ad gon e o n befor e tose e toour dinner .

Then Quintus said to me , S e e what I endur e ever y

day .

Yo u will say, P r ay what was ther e in all this
that you tell me ?
It was a gr eat matt er and annoyed
even me ; sh e an sw er ed so u n r easonably an d r o u ghly
inwor ds and looks I appear ed not tonotice it, ve xed
.

as I was . We all sat downtodinner except P omponia,

to whom, however , Quintus sent food fr om th e table,
b u t she r efu sed it Why mor e ? Nothing seemed to
.

me mor e consider ate thanmy br oth er or mor e ir r itating

than your sister , and I pass over many things which
wer e mor e annoying to me than to Quintu s himse lf .

Thence I went to A q uinum , and Quintu s r emained in

Ar canu m, and ear ly the next mor ning c ame to me at
Aq u inu m He told me sh e was not willing to sleep
.

with him, and wh en the time of depar tu r e c ame was

j ust as I had seen her I n shor t , you may say this to
.

h er , that inmy op inion sh e was o n that d ay lacking in

c o ur tesy . This I have wr itten to you p er haps some
what at length , that you might see that you too had a
du ty to d o, in teaching and admonishing It r emains .

fo r yo u to nish my commissions c ompletely befor e you

set o u t ; wr ite me ever ythin g, h ur r y P om ptinu s 03,
take car e to let me know when you have left R ome .

Be su r e that noo ne is mor e d ear or beloved th anyou .

At Mintu m re I par ted aec tionately with Au lu s Tor

q u a tu s, an e xc ellent m an ; ple a se let h im kn ow in c on
versationthat I have mentioned him toyou .

XL VII . v .

Since my Athens, on J u ne 25 th I have

ar r ival at ,

beenwaiting four days for P omptinu s, and I hav e no

c er tain infor mation abou t his co ming I am always .
 XLVII .
( Ar r v. . 10 )
.

pr esent inmind with you , and tho u gh I should doso .

myself withou t th ese memor ials of you , yet r eminded

by them, I think of you th e mor e ar dently I n shor t , .

I talk of nothing b u t you Bu t per haps you pr efer to

.

know something abou t myself ; her e it is u p to this ,

time th er e h as b eennop u blic o r p r ivat e o u tlay for me

or any of my men Nothing is r ec eived u nder th e pr o

.

visions of th e Ju lian law, and no ho spitality has b ee n

ac c ept e d All my follower s have been convinc ed that
.

my r epu tation sho uld b e advanced ; well sofar This .

when r ecogniz ed was gener ally discu ssed and pr aised

by the Gr eeks For the r est, I am taking gr eat tr ou ble
.

in this matt er , in th e way whic h I felt that yo u wou ld

wish Bu t let me p r aise th ese things wh en I h ave

.

nished them Other things ar e su ch that I oftennd

.

fau lt with my plan of action in not in some way escap

ing fr om this bu siness Alas, for an u nder taking so
.

little su it ed tomy hab its ! L et ev er y man do his o wn

wor k Will you say, What is yo ur tr ou ble so far ?
.

Fo r yo u ar e n ot yet engaged inyo ur b u siness

I know .

it, and I think mor e tr ou b le is to c o me ; thou gh I in

deed bear these ver y o nes most beau tifully as far as
the expr ession o f my co untenance goes, b u t I am tor
tur ed in mind S omany things, eith er in anger o
. r in

so lence o r with ever y kin d of stu pidity, ar e foolishly

and disc o ur te o u sly said or left u nsaid daily Th ese .

things I d onot wr ite at length, not be cause I wish to

h ide them fr om you b u t bec au se they ar e har d to ex
,

pr ess ; soyou will admir e my dignity wh en we r etu r n

safe , I give so mu ch car e for the cu ltivation of this
qu ality Th er efor e I will only wr ite so far of these
.

matter s also ; tho u gh I h ave nothing befor e me towr ite

abo u t sinc e I h av e no
, t an idea what yo u ar e do ing, o r

wher e in th e wor ld you ar e, nor was I ever soignor ant

of my own affair s, what has b een done abo u t my ac
count s with Csesar and Milo N ot only noper son, b u t
.
98 SELECT L ETTERS OF CI CERO .

not ve n any r umor h as r eached me tolet me know

e

wh at is going on inthe r ep u blic S o if ther e is any

.

thing you know of these matter s which you think I

wish to know, it will oblige me if you will se e that I
am infor med o f it What mor e is ther e ? Nothing
.
,

indeed, b u t this ; I am mu c h pleased with Ath e ns I ,

mean the c r owds and th e beau ty of the c ity and th e

, ,

devotion of th e inhabitant s toyou and a c er tain kind ,

ness towar d me and e specially that philo sophy wh ic h

,

tu r ns things u pside down exemp li, e d as it is in Ar is

tus at who se hou se I am fo

,
r I h av e yielded yo u r
,

Z eno , o r r ath er min e to Qu intus, and yet we have

,

sp en t whole days together , as we ar e sonear A s soo n .

as yo u can wr ite your plan

, s to me, th at I may kn ow
what you ar e doing, wher e you ar e fr om time to t ime,
espec ially wh enyo u will b e at R ome .

XLVII I .
( FAN . XIII .

Althou gh I did not feel qu ite sur e whether it would

c au se me some distr ess or pleasur e instead to see you
at Ath ens b ec ause th e in
,
j u stice which you have su f
fer ed wo u ld have pained me, and the wisdom with
which you endur e the inj ur y cau ses me joy, yet I shou ld
p r efe r to hav e seen you ; fo r wh a te v er so r r ow th er e is

tr u ly doe s not become lighter when I do not see you ;

what pleasur e ther e co uld have been, c er tainly if I had
seen yo u , wo u ld have b een in cr eased S o I shall not .

hesitat e to take special p ains tosee you wh en I can do

so co n venient ly ; meanwhile I will lay befor e you a
matt er whic h can b e pr opo se d and , as I tr u st , c ar r ied
thr ou gh by letter Bu t I will r st ask you that you
.

will do nothing for me against you r will, b u t will so

g r a nt me the favor whic h you know is of so mu ch im
por tance to me , b u t affects you in noway if you per ,

su ad e yo ur se lf to do it c hee r fu lly B etween P atr o th e

.
 XLVI I I .
( AM
F . XI I I . 99
Ep icur ean and myself ther e is e ntir e fr iendship, ex
c ep t that I en tir elydisagr ee; with him o nthe su bj ect of
philo sophy ; bu t both for mer ly at R ome, whenhe ad
her ed to you and you r fr iends, he espe cially paid me
honor , and late ly, when he obtained th e pr ivilege s and
advantage s h e wishe d, h e co n sid er ed me almo st th e

ch ief o f his defender s and fr iends ; and no w h e was

br ought and intr od u ced to me by t dr us, whom I
while a b oy, b efor e I knew P hilo, esteemed esp ec ially
as a philo sopher , an d then as a man who was u pr ight ,
agr eeable, an d sc r u pu lou s ; accor dingly, this P atr o
sen t a letter to me at R ome, that I might r econcile you
toh im . Thenh e asked that you shou ld yield to h im
tho se fallen walls o f Ep ic ur us ; I wr ote yo u n othing
abo u t th e matter be cau se I was u n willing that you r
p la n s fo r b u il d in g sho u l d b e h i n d e r ed by a su gg es tio n
of mine As h e asked me towr ite the same thing to
.

y o u si n c e m y a r r iv al at Ath ens, I h ave gr an te d h is

r equ est fo r this r eason th a t it is th n al Opinio n
, e g e e r

o f yo ur fr iends th at yo u h av e ab an d oned that bu ild ing .

If this is th e case, and if it is now of noimpo r tance to

y o u ,
I w is h i f fo r a n y r e a s o n yo u r m in d h a s b e e n p r e

ju d i c e d b e c au se o f th e p er v e r s ity of c e r t ain per sons

fo r I kno w his co u nt yme r n y o u w o u l d b e fo r giving
both fr om your own gener osity and for the sak e of my
honor If you wish to know what my Opinions ar e, I
.

fo r my par t do n ot see why h e is sostr enu ous, nor why

y o u r e fu se ; tho u g h on e c an m u c h les s a llow y ou th a n
him to b e ob stinat e withou t r eason However , I am .

sur e that yo u kn ow of th e plea which P atr o alleges ; he

claims he must gu ar d th e ho nor , the obligatio n, th e
r ight o f th e will, the au thor ity of Epicur u s, th e solemn
pr omise of P h aedr u s, th e home, th e d welling plac e , th e -

memor y of his illu str io u s pr ede cessor s We may lau gh .

at th e whole life an d syst em which h e fo llows in his

p hi lo so hy
p , if w e w ish to c e n sur e t hi s e f
f o r t of h i s ;
 l se in
er Lrr ia

as
'

or cici
is o
.

si nce I am not ver y mu ch oppose d pe r sonally

d other s whoaccep t the se vie ws, I may have
him if he labo r s ear n e stly More ov er , if he
.

is wro ng inthis r espect, he is wr ong thr ou gh weakness

r ather than wic ed nk ess B u t n ot m
to say ere for I

.

mu st ay t so e t
s i m im e I love P o mponiu s Atticu s as
an othe r brother ; nothing is dear er or more agr eeable
tome than he . He no t because he is of these, fo r he

is mo st r e ned thr ough all liber al teac hing, b u t he is

ve y devoted to P atr o a d t d r us he has sou ght
r n
this insu ch a way fr om me, he, a man whois the least
ambitio u s an d tr ou bleso me in h is d emands, mor e car
neatly than h e ever sought anyth ing else He h as no .

d o u bt b u t that I can obtain this fr om yo u by a n od ,

evenif yo u are abo u t tobu ild Now, intr u th, ifh e hears
.

y o u ha v e ab ando n e d th e b u ild ing, and yet I h ave no t

gained th e po int fr om yo u , h e will thin k, not that you ar e
disobliging tome, b u t that I was r emiss toward him So
'

I b e g you to wr ite to you r agent s that by you r wish

that aoc alled r ecor d of th e Ar e opagu s c an b e annu lled .

Bu t I come back tothe r st po in t ; I wish you to per

su ad e yo u r se lf that yo u do th is fr eely o n my accou nt
be for e yo u do it . And b e assu r ed if yo u d oth at w hic h

I ask, it will gr eatly oblige me Far ewell . .

XL IX
.
( mu . II .

Why ,
d oyou think I asked yo u to sen d wo r d to me

abo u t the matc hing of glad iato r s, de fer r ed se c ur itie s .

the theft of Chr estus, and tho se thin gs w hic h n o o n e

vent ur es tomention to me when I am in Rome ? Se e

how mu ch I defer to you in my j u dgme nt and no t
withou t r eason; for I have yet known no one mor e
skilled inpo litic s th an yo u I d onot car e tohav e you
.

wr itome events which are taking plac e which concer n

the inte r ests of th e state , e xc ept what has r efer ence to
 0

xmx .
( FAM I I . .
L . 101

myself ; other s will wr ite me, other s will br ing repor ts

to my ears, an d r umor itself will bear many things .

S oI expect fr om yo u an acco u n t, not of the past or

p r ese n t,
b u t th e view of a m an loo ki n g fa r i nto th e

fu tu re , in or d er that I may know whenI have seenfr om

your le tter s the planof the state what will be its str u ct
ur e . No r yet hav e I an y ch ar g e a ga in st yo u ; no r w as

it that yo u co uld fo r esee be tter th anan y of us , an d cc

p e c ially th an I,
who pa sse d m a ny d ay s w ith P o m pe y
in conver sation abo u t th e state ; th ese thin g s n e ith er

can n or should be wr itte n Be assur ed of this, that

.

P ompe y is a r emar kable citiz en by for esigh t and pr u

dence for ever y emer genc y in the state So thr ow .

your self on his side ; he will honor you , believe me .

Fo r he en ter tains th e same opinion that we doof those

who seem good and bad citizens I have b een at .

Athens ju st ten days, and Gallu s Caniniu s has been

muc h with me ; I go fr om her e July 14 at th e ver y
time of sending this le tter toyo u I wish all my inter
.

e sts to b e ve r y de ar to yo u , an d par ticular ly that my

r esid e n c e in th e pr o vinc e b e not pr olonge d ; this is
ever ythin g to m e .Y o u w ill b e st d e cid e wh en a nd h ow
an d thr o u gh who m it must b e done .

L .
( Ar r . V .

I on the mar ch , indeed at this ver y moment o

am n
the r o ad , b u t th e messeng s of the tax co
e r ntr actors are -

j u st abou t to star t, and thou gh we ar e moving along, I

thought I mu st send a few jottings abou t things which
r eally wan t a fuller explanation I assur e you th at .

abo u t my arr ival o n the last day of July in this pr ov

inc e, br oken d o wnand hopelessly r u ined as it is, th er e
wer e immense expectations I stayed thre e days at
.

Lao dic ea, thr ee at Apamia, and the same at Syn nas .

Ever ywlx ere it has beenthe same stor y: that they can
102 S ELECT LETTERS OF CICER O .

not pay th e poll tax which h as been imposed on th em ;

-

that the pur chases of all have had tob e sold ; that ther e
ar e gr o ans an d cr ies fr o m ever y distr ict ; things often
not lik e the acts of a h uman being, b u t of some mon
str o us be ast I n shor t , th eir life is simp ly a b ur den to
.

them Still the wr etched cities ar e nding so me r elief

.

inh aving noexp ense whate ver toincur , eith er fo r my

self, o r my sta o r my p aymaster , o r an ybody I mu st .

tell yo u that I no t only decline toacc ept for age, and

all th at is u su ally allow e d u s u n der Cae sar s ac t, b u t

e ven r e wood : non

-
e o f u s, in fact, ac c epts a single
thing beyond fou r beds and th e shelte r of a r oof ; in
many plac es not eventhe r oof, and we not u nc ommonly
stay in o u r ten ts Th e consequ ence is that ther e is
.

asto n ishing enthu siasm abou t c o ming togr eet u s fr om

th e countr y , fr om th e villages, and fr om ever y hou se .

I solemnly declar e th at my coming her e, if nothing

else , seems to b e makin g th e m lift th ei r h e ads again
un d er th e j u st, for bear ing, and mer ciful r u le of your
Cicer o, h e h as so exc eed ed all exp ectatio n App iu s, .

when he hear d of ou r appr oach, u ng himself into a

cor ner of the pr ov inc e, as far as T ar su s in fact, wh er e
h e holds his cour t I hear noth ing abou t t he P ar thians,
.

b u t th e people whoc o me by S yr ia r epor t that o ur cav

alr y has be en cu t topie ces by so me wild hor des Bib .

u lu s do e s n ot even yet think of going tohis p r ovince ;

the r eason o f this they say is th at h e does no t want to
leav e any ear lier than the y c an h elp I am hu r r ying
.

ontor each our camp , which is two days d istant .

LI .
( FA M
. XV .

If you well I am ver y glad, and I am in good

ar e ,

h ealth The obstr u ctions met with in the way by land

and se a pr ev en ting my r e aching my p r ovince u ntil

J uly 31, I tho u ght it my r st d u ty, and for th e ad v an
 ( M M
. xv.

tage of the state, toprepare the things whic h belo ng

to the ar my an d the military equipment . I arr anged
these mor e by car s an d diligen ce than by supplies an d
mate r ial . Since messengers and letters abo u t the at

tacks o f the P arthians u pon the provinc e of Syria w er e

b ro ught near ly Bvery day, I thought it advisable to
move thr o ugh Lyc aonia and I sauri an d Cappad o c ia ;

for I had a str o ng su spicion that if the P ar thians at

t emp ted to gofr om Syr ia and invade my pr o vin c e, they

wo uld make their way thr ough Cappadocia, as it lay

ver y mu c h expo sed And so with th e ar my I w ent
.

thr ough that part o f Cappado cia which is adj ac ent to

Cilic ia and enc amp ed at Cybistr a, a to wnwhich is near
the Tau r u s r ange I did this in ord er that Ar tavasd es,
.

the Ar menian king, whatever might b e his intentio n,

might know that th e R oman ar my was not far fr om his
bou ndar ies and that I might b e as near as po ssible to
,

Deio tar u s a king mo st tr u sty and favor able tothe

,

pu blic, who se advice and wealth co u ld be of gr eat as '

sistance to th e state As soon as I had

. nish ed my
enc ampment I sen , t the cavalr y into Cilicia th at my ,

app r o ach, wh en an nou nced to th e states on that side ,

might str ength en the minds of all, and that I c ould

ear ly kn ow what was taking plac e in S yr ia I thought .

that, du r ing the thr ee days that I continu ed in this

c amp , I sho u ld b e en a ed in im or t an t a nd n e c ess a r y
g g p
business For since yo u r au thor ity had comm anded
.

me to take th e wor thy and faithfu l Ar iob ar z anes nu

d er my pr otec tion and tod efend th e safety of his per
so nand th e se cu r ity of h is kingd om, and to b e a guar d
both to king and state, and you h ad added that the

welfar e of that king was mu ch the concer n of the

Senate and the R oman p eople, an honor which h ad

b een voted by our body in the c ase of noother king at

an y t im e I tho ht I ho ld d eliv e r yo u w
r
ill to t h e
, u g s u

kin g a nd po e
r m is him m y p r o tec tio n a nd faith a n d di li
104 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

ge nes, inorder that he might let me know of anything

he wish ed, since the pr o tection o f his p er son and th e
safety of his kin gdo m ha d be en e n tr ust ed to m e. W hen
I had said th ese things in the conversation with the
king, at r st h e gav e mo st h e ar ty than ks to yo u , as h e

ou ght, and then againto me, becau se h e tho u ght it a

mo st noble honor th at his safety shou ld b e of somu ch
con cer n to the S e n at e an d th e Ro man people, and I
had somu ch conside r at ion that I c onvinc e d him o f my
sin c er ity an d the au thor ity o f yo u r c ommend ation I t .

was a gr eat r elief tome that h e r st gave me tou nder

stan d that he knew of noplot s against either his life
or his kingdom, nor did he even have any su sp icion .

After congr atu lating him and saying that I was pleased,
I war ned him to remember th e fate of his father , and
be o nthe aler t in his own be half and accor ding to th e
war ning of th e Senate, tolook ou t for h is safety Then .

h e left me and went into the town of Cybistr a Bu t

.

th e next d ay, with A r iar ath es, his br oth er , and some of
th e vener able fr iends of his fath er , h e c ame to me in
the c amp, all o f th em alar me d and weeping, and began
tob eg my pr o te c tion and app eal toyour r eco mmend a
tio n Wh en I wonder ed what new thing had hap
.

en e d h e s a id p r oofs of op en p lot s h ad be en laid b e

p ,

for e him, which h ad be en hidden b efor e my coming,

becau se those whoc o u ld r eveal them had maintained a
silen c e thr o u gh fear ; b u t at this time man y r elying on
my pr otection bo ldly d eclar e d tohim what th ey knew ;
they said that his br other , whowas mo st aectionatc to
him and h ad th e gr eatest love fo r him the ver y things

whic h he toosaid inmy h ear ing had b eensolicited to
wish tor eign; h e cou ld not h ave gained this obj ect in
his br oth er s life time , ye t h e had never r evealed th e

matter be for e th at time b ecau se of his fear of r isk .

When h e had said this, I advised th e king to b end all

his ener gy to self pr eser vation, and I exhor ted th e
-
 LI .
( FA M . XV . 105

fr iends who had been appr oved by his fath er and

g r an df ath e r to d ef en d w ith all diligence and car e the
h fe of their king, as tau ght by the cr u el fat e of his
fath er . When the king asked me for cavalr y and c o
hor ts fr o m my ar my, althou gh I knew I was no t o nly
e mpow er ed by a de c r ee o f the S enat e togr ant this b u t ,

e ven o ug ht , ye t as th e int er ests o f the state demande d

that, on ac cou nt of daily messenger s fr om S yr ia I ,

should lead th e ar my as soo n as po ssible tothe c o n nes

of Cilicia, and since the king whennew th e p lots wer e
,

r eveale d, seemed to me n ot toneed th e aid of th e Ro .

manar my b u t tob e able tode fend himself by th e r e

,

so u r ces u n der his contr ol, I exhor ted h im to lear n to

r ule r st by pr eser ving his o wn life ; to u se his r oyal
pr er ogative r st in th e case of tho se whom h e mu st,
and fr ee the r e st fr om fear ; to u se th e p r o tection of
my ar my to intimidate tho se whower e gu ilty r ath er ,

thantostr uggle with them I said too that all wh en

.
,

the y knew th e d ec r ee o f th e S enate, would know that

if nec essar y I wo u ld p r o t ect the king by your au thor ity .

After h e was thu s enco u r age d, I moved my camp fr om

ther e I hav e decided to mar ch into Cilicia when I
.

leav e Capp adocia with this tho u ght, that by your ad

vice, thr o ugh a chanc e incr edible and almo st divine,
my coming fr ee d fr om plot s alr e ad y for med, a king
whom you h ad mentioned in mo st honor able ter ms ,

tho ugh noone ur ged it, and h ad entr u ste d tomy faith ,

and whose safety yo u had decr eed was o f gr e at impor

tanc e toyo u. I thoug ht it was not ou t of plac e th at I
should wr ite this toyo u , that yo u may kn ow fr om th ese
things which near ly happened that you pr ovided against
their occ ur r ence I infor m you especially becau se in
.

! ing Ar io b ar z anes I think I h av e seen su ch mar ks o f

valor , ability faith, and good will towar d you that you
,
-

seem, n ot witho u t r eason, tohave takensu ch pains and

beensozaslo u s fo r his safety
106 SEL ECT LETT ER S OF CICERO .

LI I .
( Ar r V
. .

Ear ly inthe mor ning of the Satu r n alia, the people of

Pind enissus sur render ed tome, o nthe sevente enth day
after we be gan to besiege th em

Who the mischief
.

are th ese p e ople of Pind enissu s ? Wh oar e they !

you

will ask .

I never hear d the name
What should I
. .

d o? Cou ld I c hange Cilicia into E to lia or Mac ed onia !

Now b e it u nder stood that su ch great movements cou ld
,

not h ave been c ar r ied on either with this ar my or in

,

this plac e L ear n th ese things in a shor t account, for

.

in a for mer lette r yo u h ave gr an te d this per mission .

How I came to Ephesus you know, for yo u even co n

g r atu lated m e u po n m y r ec eption u po n that day whic h
please d me mor e than anyth ing had ever done befor e .

After leaving ther e, I was r emar kably r eceived inthose

towns along the way, and I came to L aodicc a the last
day o f July While r emaining ther e two days, I was
.

highly honor ed, and I r emoved th e impr essiono f for mer

inj ur ies by complimentar y wor ds I did th e same at
.

Apamea, wher e I stayed v e days, at Synnas thr ee

days, at P hilomeliu m v e days, and at Ico niu m ten
days Nothing was be tte r than that j u dicial decision
.

at th at time, noth ing mor e cou r te o us o r mor e e e ctiv e .

Ther e I encamped August 26 ; Au gust 30 I r eviewed

the ar my at I nco nium A s impor tant news came fr om
.

the P ar thians, I pu sh ed fr om this c amp intoCilicia by

that par t of Cappad oc ia which adjoins Cilicia, with th e
id ea th at the Ar menianAr tavasd es and th e P ar thians
shou ld thin k themselves cu t o fr om Cappado c ia .

When I had been encamped v e days at Cybistr a, I

was infor med that th e P ar thians wer e far away fr om
that appr o ach to Cappadocia, and wer e thr eatening
Cilicia ; soI hastily mar ch ed intoCilicia thr o ug h th e
dele of th e T au r u s r ange I came to T ar su s Octobe r
.

5 ; thenI mar ch ed to Amanns, wh ich divid es S yr ia fr o m

 LI I .
( A TT v. . 107

Cilicia at the water shed -

.This mou ntainis continu ally
swar min g w ith w ar lik e tr ib es H e r.e, o n th e thi r t ee n th
of October , we killed many of th e enemy By an ap .

p r o ach of P om ptin us in th e ni ht
g , an d m y ar r iv a l in
the mo rn ing, we seiz ed and bur ned a str ongly for tied
citad el ; I was salu te d as Imp er ator For a few days .

we held that ver y camp which Alexander had held

against Dar ius at Issu s, an Im pe r ato r n ot a little b etter
thanyou or I Th er e I r emained v e days, plu nder ing
.

an d wasting Am anns, and thendepar te d ; fo r yo u kn ow

th e r umor of p anics and the u nfound ed ter r or s of war .

At the repor t of my appr o ach Cassius, whowas being

held at Antioch, took co u r age, and the P ar thians be
came alar med ; so Cassiu s, fo llowin g th em o n th eir

r etr eat fr om th e town, was su c c essful ; in that ight

Osaces, a man of gre at au thor ity leader of th e P at thi

,

an s, r ec eiv e d a wo und fr om th e ef fects o f wh ich h e died

ina few days . My name is ingr eat honor inSyr ia I n .

the meantime c ame Bib ulu s ; I su ppo se he wish ed to b e

e qu al tome in this vain title : in th at same Aman ns he
began to look for a lau r el wr eath in a c ake Bu t he
-
.

lo st the whole cohor t and a c entu r ion of th e r st r an k,

a distinguish ed of c er , Asinius Dento, and other s of
that same cohor t, and Sext u s L u ciliu s, militar y tr ibune,
th e so n of Titu s Gaviu s Caspio, a r ich and exc ellent
man Sur ely he incur r ed a te r r ible disaster in fact ,
.

and especially in con sider ation o f the time I went to

.

Pind enissus, th e best for tied townwithinth e memor y

of all fr ee Cilicians, which was th en inar ms Th e men.

wer e er ce and bold, and pr epar ed in ever y way for

defenc e We besieged them by a wall and ditch, a
.

ver y high mou nd, a lofty tower , a gr eat abu ndanc e

of missiles, many ar r ows, and spent great labor and
pr epar ation on the wor k Thou gh many men wer e
.

wo unded, th e ar my was u nhur t, and we acc omp lish ed

the wo r k . The Satur nalia was a j oyful occasiontothe
108 S EL ECT L E TT ER S 01 CICER O .

soldier s at least, towhom we allowed the remainder of

the booty after taking the hor ses . The slav es wer e
so ld o nthe thir d day of the Satu r nalia While I am
.

wr iting this, ther e is pr oper ty wor th sester tia o n

th e st and . Fr o m h er e I giv e over th e ar my to my
br other Quinms tolead into winter quar ters in a region
-

sc ar c ely su bdu ed . I myself am going to Laodicc a .

This is th e c ondition sofar . Bu t let me r etu r ntowh at

I have omitted A s to your sp ecial exhor tation, whic h
.

is of mor e impor tanc e than ever ything else, in which

y ou a r e e xer tin g yo ur self , th at I m ay s a ti sfy the o bsti
nate cr itic, I shall die, if anything can be done mor e
elegan tly And I do not now call this temper ance
.

whic h seems a vir tu e to r e sist pleasur e ; in my life I

have never been affected by sogr eat pleasur e as now
by this integr ity of mine, and my gr eat r epu tationd e
lights me no t somu ch as th e aair itself . I n shor t, it
was wor th while I myself neither knew no r M eien tly
un derstood what I was cap able of in this dir ection; I
h ave r ightly been puffed u p Ther e is nothing mor e
.

wor thy of note Meanwhile these things are glor iou s

. .

Ar io b ar z anes lives and r eigns thr ou gh my eo r ts ; in

p assing by my advice and au thor ity, and by r efu sing

no t on ly to r ec eive gifts, b u t ev en tosee th e intr iguer s
again st him , I save d th e kin g a nd his k ing do m . Mean
while I have exac te d fr om Cappadocia not evena mite ;
I c heer ed Br u tu s in his d esp air as mu ch as I could
Br u tus, whom I love no t less than yo u do , I almo st said

not less than yo u. And, mor eover , I h0pe that in th e

whole year of my command ther e will not be a far
thing of expense inth e pr ovince Y ou have it all N ow
. .

I am pr epar ing tosend anofcial r epor t to R ome It .

will b e fu ller th anif I had sent it fr om Amanns Bu t .

o u will n ot b e at R o me ! B u t the impor tan t th in g is

y
what will take plac e on th e r st of Mar ch, for I fear
lest, whenactionis takenabou t Cwsar s pr ovinc e, if he

 LI I .
( ATT V . . 109

resis s,
t I shall be kept her e If you wer e to b e th er e
.

then, I sho uld not fear it I c ome bac k to th e aair s

.

in the city, of which I was ignor ant fo r a lon g tim e,

b ut

lear ned of thr o u gh your ver y acc eptable letter of D e

cemb er 28 . Philo genes, your fr eedman, took car e th at
it was br ou ght over a long and so mewhat u nsafe way .

I did not, however , r ec eiv e th e one you wr ite that you

ga v e to th e s lav es of L w n iu s T h e r e
.s o lu t io n of th e

S enate concer ning Owsar , and the h 0pes that yo u h ave ,

please me I f he yields to it, I am safe I am not

. .

so r r y that Seius was sin g e d by th e r e o f P he tor iu s.

I desir e to know why L u cc eiu s was so censor iou s in

the c ase of Quintu s Cassiu s When I come to L aodi
.

ce a, I shall b e or d er ed to giv e th e whit e toga to Qu in

tus, your sister s so

n, whom I will somewhat r estr ain .

Deio tar u s, who se gr eat aid I hav e u sed, is abou t to join

me at Laodicea with th e two Cic er os, as he has wr itten .

I await your letter fr om Epir u s, that I may have an

acco u nt no t only of your wor k, b u t also o f your leisur e .

Nicanor is at his du ty, and I tr eat him liber ally ; as

I think, I shall send him to Rome with my pu blic r e
p o r t , th a t it m ay b e v er y c ar ef u lly c ar r ied, and he
may br ing bac k to me a tr ustwor thy accou nt conc em
ing and fr om yo u . It pleases me that Alexis so often
sen ds gr eeting ina postscr ipt ; bu t why does h e not d o
the same with his letter s th at my Al exis do es to yo u ?

I am looking ou t for a hor n for Ph emiu s Bu t this is .

en ou gh T ake c ar e of you r h ealth, and let me kno w

.

whenyou think of going to R ome Againand again, .

I most car efully, when at Ephesu s, commended you

an d your adher ents to Th er mu s, and have again done
soby letter an d I h ave knownth at he is mo st stu dious
,

of your welfare I wish as I have befor e wr itten, you

.
,

would give attention to the hou se of P ammenu s so ,

that what the boy h as by ou r k ind ness you may see is

1 10 SEL ECT L ETT ER S OF CICERO .

not taken fr om him in any way . I not o nly co nsid e r

this a matt er of honor toboth of u s, b u t a p leasur e to

me .

L II I .
( Fm . VII . 32 .

Bec au se you sent me a letter familiar ly as you should

withou t you r r st name, I at r st was in dou bt wh ethe I
it was fr o m Volumniu s the senator , with who m I hav e
mu ch inter c ou r se ; th en the wit of th e letter was su c h
th at I knew it was yo ur s
; in th is le t te r I wa s p le as e o
with eve r ything b u t this, that you , my b aili, ar e not

c ar efu l e no u gh in p r ot ec ting my p r op er ty in my salt

wor ks ; for you say after my depar tur e ever y one s jokes,

ev en th o se o f Se stiu s w er e ascr ib ed to me
, What ? .

Doyou allow it ? Doyo u no t defend me ? Doyo u n ot

r esist i I inde ed hop ed that I h ad left the examples of
my wit sowell known th at th ey c ou ld b e easily r e cog
niz ed Bu t since th er e is su ch a vu lgar cr owd in th e
.

city th at t her e is n
,
othing sovile as not to seem gr ac e
fu l toso me one u nle ss some p ointed ambiguity, some
,

e legant h yp e r bo le , some n eat fu n ,

so m e r idic ul o u s sur

pr ise or some example scientically and ingeniously

,

e xpr e ssed o f th e oth er for ms which I have discu ssed in

th e sec o nd bo ok o f D e Or ato r e in th e char ac ter of

Antoniu s on th e su bj ect of witticisms shall app ear as ,

y o u lov e m e ,
ght lik e o n e c o nt e n di n g i n a r e al su it
that th ey ar e no t mine Fo r as to you r c omplain
. ts
abou t the law p r o ceedin s I a m m u ch less an xious ; as
g
-
,

far as I am concer ned all th e defendants may b e hung ;

let ev en S elins b e soeloqu ent as to su cc eed in pr oving
th at he is not a knave, I c ar e not My pmpr ietar y .

r ight in the c ase of hu mor let u s d efen d , I beseech yo u,

by all po ssible bars I nthis I fear you alone and c ar e

.

nothing for th e oth er s Do you think I am lau ghing

.

at yo u ? N ow at least I know h o w sensible you ar e .

Bu t this is witho u t j oking ; yo u r lett er seemed to me

 ( mm n . v .
LI V .
( FA M . xv . m
witty and elegant What followed, r idic ulous as it
.

was, did not make me lau gh Fo r I wish that fr iend

.

of mine had mor e dignity in his omoe as t r ibune, and

this not only on his ownaccount, for he is d ear ly con
nected with me, as you know, b u t for the sake of th e
r epu blic which I shall n ever c ease to love, no matter

ho w u ngr ateful it is to me My dear Volu mnius, since

.

y ou ha ve b e gun a n d se e it is a pl easur e to me ,
w r ite

ver y ofte n of the aair s inthe city and th e state Th e .

style of your letter is pleasing to me Besides, exh or t

.

an d encour age Do lab ella and gain him wholly fo r my

inter ests, as I p er c eiv e and j u dge h e is most loving and

fond of me not because he needs any applic ations of
this sor t, b u t because I am ver y d esir ous, I do not seem
to be too ear nest .

Lrv .
( F m . xv .

is with sincere pleasur e, as patr iotism and fr iend

It
ship would alike dictate , th at I see the spir it, integr ity,
and vigilanc e which we knew sowell inthe gr eat cr isis
of your civil administr ation at home, now ad dr essing
themselves in u nimpair ed vigor to th e condu ct of our
ar ms abr oad .I have ther efore only acted in accor d
an c e with my con victions in endeavor ing to pay du e
honor , both inmy speeches and inth e vote I pr oposed ,
to the integr ity and ju dgment with which you h ave pr o
tected a pr ovinc e, saved th e per son and cr o wnof ! ing
Ar iob ar z anes, and br ou ght back the feeling of our allie s

to a loyal enthusiasm for our r ule If you pr efer that .

we sh ould give thanks to the Almighty r ather thanac

knowle dge o r a su cc ess in
ur gr atitu d e to your self fo

which the state is innowisc indebted to chance, bu t to

your consummate ability and self c ontr ol, I am glad -

that a pu blic thanksgiving has beenvoted Bu t if you .

r egar d a than ksgiving mer ely as th e preliminar y par t

of a tr iumph, and ar e glad for th at r eason that For t u ne
1 12 S ELECT LETT ER S OF CI CERO .

r ather thanyo ur self sho u ld have th e cr edit in the r s t

,

plac e a tr iu mph doe s not nec essar ily follow on a pu blic

thanksgiving, and then it is far mor e honor able that
the S enate should accor d its opinion th at the mild r u le
and integr ity of a gover nor h as saved his pr ovinc e and
its allegianc e than th e amou nt of his for ces o r th e favo r

of P r ovidenc e, and th is was th e sentim ent I wish ed to

e xp r ess . And , c ontr ar y to my u su al pr ac tice I h av e ,

wr itten to you somewhat at length for this r eason, that

y ou m ig ht see ,
as I e ar ne stly h op e you w ill how
, e ager

I am to convince you that , while I su ppor ted th e cou r se

which app ear ed to me mo st b ecoming for your dignity,
I yet am glad we adopted the one you your self pr efer .

I hope you may live long to gr ant me your fr end ship,

and c on tinu e in the path you have cho sen of stric t
watchfulness for the inter ests of our allies and th e R e
pu blic .

LV VI .

Her e I am inmy pr ovinc e, doing all I c antosu ppor t

th e cr edit of Appiu s, wh en 10 ! I nd myself all at onc e
his ac cu ser s fath er inlaw
- -
Y es, and may H eav en
make it, say you , a happy match !

Amen, say I,
and I am qu it e sur e yo u r eally wish it to b e, b u t u pon

my wor d ther e is nothing in th e wor ld I h ad less ex

p ec te d to h ea r of ; I h ad ev e n go ne so far as to se nd
so me condential messages to my woman kind abou t
T iber iu s Ner o , who had made pr opo sals to me ; b u t
when they got to Rome the betr othal was all over .

After all, I hope this is better ; at any r ate, I can see

that th e ladies ar e imm ensely delighted with the you ng
fellow s d efer ence and agr eeable manners ; as for other

things do no
, t expo se it in all its d efect s. Bu t h ey !
my good fr iend, wh at is this ab ou t you and a distr ib u
t io n o f c or n at Ath ens ?
I s th at appr oved ? S till, no
d ou b t th e r e was noth ing to pr ev e nt it in my tr e atise,
 I N
.
( ART VI . . 113

for your s was not somu ch a lar gess to fellow c itizens -

,

as a tr ibu t e to the ho sp itality o f ent er tainer s Doyou

still t e ll me to thin k abo u t adding P r opylwa to the

Acad emy when Appiu s has given u p his idea abo u t

Eleu sis ! I am su r e you are ver y sor r y abou t Hor ten
sin s. I for my par t am agoniz ed ; I had set my h e ar t
onliving in p leasant intimac y with him I have left .

Cwliu s in c har ge of the p r ov inc e He is a mer e b oy

.
,

y o u wi ll sa y an d,po s sib ly a foo l an d l ac kin g in c h ar

acter an d self r estr aint

-

Gr anted : th er e was nothing
.

else tob e don e F or it was th e letter I h ad fr om yo

. u

a long time ago when yo ,u said yo u wer e qu ite in dou bt

as towh at I ou ght to do abou t leaving th e pr ovinc e,

wh ich pr icked me : becau se I saw the r eason of this

dou bt ; indeed, I felt j ust th e same myself Why give .

it toa mer e boy ? ther e was my br oth er ? Th at was an

un desir able thing for both of u s while ther e was nobody
exc ept my br oth er , whom I c o u ld with o u t in vidio u sness
p u t ov e r th e h ead of m y qu e sto r , espe cia lly a s h e w a s

of noble family S till while the Par thians seemed

.
,

thr eat ening, I had deter mined toleave my br other or ,

ev enfo r th e pu blic good to stay myself, inspite of th e

decree of the S enate : now th at by some mar vellou s

good lu ck they have r e tir ed my h esitationhas been t e
,

moved . I saw what wou ld b e the comments : So! h e

has pu t h is br oth er in; do yo u call this holdin g a p r ov
inc e on ly fo r a ye ar ! what good is it th at th e S en at e
intend ed th e pr ovinc es to goto those whohad no t pre
viou sly held any gover nment ? why, her e is a manwho
h as b een thr ee consecu tive year s ! Th ese are my r ea
son s ther efor e fo r the pu blic car And no w for tho se
.

which ar e for your s only ? Well, I should never have

b een fr ee fr om the dr eadsu ch things will occ ur in
life of something p assionate or insolent or negligent
happening What if my nephew did something being
.
,

onlv a lad and a he ad str ong lad toofwh at tr o uble this

,
 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

wo uld be His father , however , was not at all for se nd

.

ing him away, and was mu c h ann oyed that you tho u gh t
he ought to Wher eas now with Ce lina
. I am no t say
ing, yo u un der stand, that h e has ever d one anything ,
b u t at any r ate I am far less anxio u s Then you may
.

add an other r easo n: P ompey, strong man as he was ,

and deep as his r oots wer e set, appo inted Qu intus Cas
s iu s witho u t an y electio n, a nd C a
e s ar did th e sa m e f or

Antony : was I to oend a manwho had beenregular ly

electe d , an d be sur e tomake him a spy o nthe condu c t
of anybody whom I left in ch ar ge ! My waywas b etter
thanthat, and ther e ar e more pr ec edents for this cour se,
which cer tainly is bette r suited for my time of life .

Bu t bless me ! yo u do n ot know how I have ingr atiated

yo u with him : I r ead him a letter which if it did n ot
,

come fr om yo u , at an y r ate did fr om yo ur s ecre ta r y .

The letters I have fr om fiiends all invite me toclaim a

tr iumph, which I am inclined to think is a thin g th at
ought not to be neglected in the present r enaissance of
my for tunes ; so, my dear Atticus, please begin to be
eager fo r it too, that yo u may keep me inco un ten ance
if it is th ought foolish o f me .

L VI .
( Fm . XV .

h ther J ro m thec applause is pu-alse lndeed

Fromo ne sopraised this comes a no bler mead .

Sosays Hector in o ne, I think, of Na vius s plays ;

for it is u nd ou btedly tr ue that applau se is sweet when

it pr oc eeds fr om those whose ownlives have beenmo st
applau d ed . Indeed, as for myself, whether I look at
the congr atulation s of your letter , or th e te stim on y of
the opin ionyo u expressed inth e Sen ate , I seem tohave
r each ed the ver y summit of my wishes, an d it is to me
at on ce the gr eate st pleasur e and the gr eatest honor
that yo u have been r ead y to make a c on c ession to
 LVI .
( PAM . XV . 115

fr ie ndsh ip wh ich you c o u ld c er t ainly gr ant with a ver y

c lear c on sc ie nc e tot r u th A nd if we all or e ven if we
.
,

any of u s, w er e Gate s in this c o u ntr y, whose pr o u d est

boast is that she has given bir th to one, what lau r els,
what tr iu mphal car s, co uld I weigh for a mo ment against
your appr obation! To my own feelings as well as to
your own most u pr ight and r ened j u dgment, nothing
c o uld b e mo r e hon or able to me than that sp e ech of
yo ur s, which I have had fully r epor ted to me by my
fr iends Bu t the reasons that made me so desir ous ( I
.

will not say ambitious ) I explained to you inmy pr evi

ous letter , and althou gh they have seemed to you tobe
scar c ely su icient, th er e is at least this mu ch tob e said
fo r them that if the pr ivilege is not one to b e too
eager ly d esir ed, at all e v en ts if th e Senate should offer
,

it me, it is o ne onnoac cou nt to b e r ej ected N ow I .

hepe that that body, inconsider ationof the wor k I have

done for my cou ntr y, will think me not u nwor thy of
the pr ivilege especially as it is by nomeans anu nusu al
,

one . Should this pr ov e to be th e case I would only ,

b eg of yo u ,
in accor danc e with the ver y fr iendly ex
pr essions of your letter , th at as you w er e willing to
gr ant me what in your j u dgment wou ld b e mo st to my
honor , you will r ejoic e with me if that happens which
would give me mo st pleasur e Indeed I know you .
,

have soexpr essed your self in acts and feelings as well ,

as in yo ur kind lette r ; and I nd a pr oof that the

th anksgiving in my honor was not ind ier ent to you in
the thou ght that yo u ad d ed your sign atur e to th e d e
cr ee ; for I am well awar e that dec r ees of this kin d ar e
u su ally sign ed by tho se who feel the w ar me st in ter est
in th e per son inwho se honor they ar e p assed I shall, .

I hop e, see you ver y shor tly and Heaven gr ant that
,

ou r cou ntr y may then b e in a h appier state than my

fear s for ebod e l
 S ELEC T LETTERS OF CI CERO .

L VII .
( FA M XV I
. .

I tho u ght I cou ld a little mor e easily be ar the se p ar a

t o
. n fr o m you , b u t I evident ly c annot be ar it, and al s

tho u gh it is gr eatly to my h o nor tocome at o nce to t h e

c ity yet I se em to h av e don e wr o ng in leavin g y o u
, ;
b u t sinc e it seemed to b e you r wish no t to go by se a
far th er u ntil yo u r h ealth was r esto r ed, I app r o v e d
of your ide a and now d o not attempt to change it if
, ,

y o u a r e of t h e sam e e p in o n ; b u t i f ,
a ft e r y ou h a v e

taken so me r efr eshment, you see you can follow m e ,

y o u m a y d e c id e for y our s e lf wh e th e r to co m e o r st a y .

I hav e sent Mar io toyou with this notion, that h e shall

eith er c o me tome with yo u as soon as po ssible, o r , if

y o u r em a in,
c o m e at o n c e t o m e . M o r e ov er ,
b e a ssur e d
that if it can b e done with ou t inj ur y to your h ealth, I
wish nothing r ather th an to h ave you with me ; bu t if
y o u c o n sid e r th at it is n e c e ssar y fo r
y o u to r em a in a
little time at P atr aa for th e sake o f r ec over ing you r
health, I have nowish r ather thanthat you should hav e
you r way If you sail at onc e, ov er take me at L eu cas ;
.

b u t if yo u wish togr o w str ong r st, car efu lly look ou t

to have attendant s fair w eather and a su itable ship
, , .

This one thing, my T ir o se e toit if you love me, that

,

the c oming o f Mar io o r this le tter ma

y n ot sw a y y o u ;
if you do wh at will b e b est fo r yo ur h ealth , yo u w ill

c on for m to my wish es Consider th e matter accor ding

.

toyo u r o wn inclination My desir e to see you is r e

.

str ain e d by my a ectio n for you My aection bids

.

me se e a well man; my desir e is to see you as soon

as po ssible, b u t th at is th e r st con sider ation . So
take sp ecial c ar e of you r h ealth ; th is will b e th e most
pleasing of all your innumer able favor s to me No .

vemb er 3 .
 L VII ( FAM XVI
. . .
L VII I .
( FAM XVI
. . 117

L VIII .
( AM
F . XVI .

I left you , as youknow, November 2 I arr ived at .

L e u cas Novemb er 6 and the next d ay at Actiu m

, .

Ther e I was delayed u ntil November 8 on account of

th e b ad w eath er Thenc e we had a ne p assage to
.

Cor cyr a, November 9 November 17 I went 120 stadia

.

into the h ar bor o f th e Co r cyr e an s at Cassiop e ; ther e

I was detained by th e winds u ntil November 23 Mean .

while many who had embar ked in th eir imp atience

su ffer ed shipwr eck After su pp er on that d ay we set
.

sail ; th en c e with a ge n tle sou th wind, u nd er a calm

sky after a sail of th e n
,
ight and the next d ay, we ar
r ived safely in Italy at Hydr u s an d with th e same wind
,

the next d ay, November 25 , at th e four th h o ur we c ame

to Br tmdisiu m At the same time T er entia, who thinks

.

so mu ch o f yo u , came in to the town November 27, .

the slave of Gnaeu s P lanciu s gav e me at Br u ndisiu m

the letter whic h I h ad b een looking fo r fr o m yo u fo r

some tim e , wr itten Nov ember 15 Th e lette r r elieved

.

my anxiety gr eatly ; I wish it had r emove d it altogeth er .

Bu t yet th e physicianA sclapoassur es me th at yo u will

soon b e w ell Now, why should I u r ge you to obser ve

.

all car e to r egain yo ur h e alth ? I know you r pr u d ence,

moder ation and love towar d me ; I know you will do
,

ever ything to b e with me as soon as po ssible ; yet I

h 0pe th at yo u will n ot b e r ash I wish you had excu sed

.

your self fr om going to L ysos conc er t, so as to have

avoide d th e twenty eighth d ay ; b u t sinc e yo

-
u p refer r ed

to consid er yo ur politeness r ath er than your h ealth ,

tak e c ar e fo r th e fu tu r e I hav e wr itt en to Cur ins to

.

see th at th e phy sician has his d u e an d to give yo u

whatever you need ; telling him that I will tak e car e for
any o ne he commissions I left for you at Br undisiu m
.

a ho r se and a mu le I fear th at th er e may b e gr eat dis

.

tur b ance after Janu ary 1 I sh all a

.c t calm ly I t t e .
118 SELECT LETTERS or CICERO .

mains for me to ask and not toset sail r as hly

b eg you
sailors ar e accustomed to hastenfor th e sake of th eir

own bu siness b e cau tiou s, dear T ir o , a sea of gr eat
e xten t wh ch is difc t to cr o ss lies befor e you if
i ul
y ou c an, co me with M e scinius he is use d to sailing

car efu llyif not, with some distingu ish ed man by

whose au thor ity the ship owner may be moved I n
-
.

this matter , if you will app ly all car e and br ing yo u r

self safe tome, I shall b e satis ed with yo u Again .

an d again, dear T ir o, far ewell I have most car efu lly

.

wr itten abou t you to the physician, and Cur ins and

L yso .

LI X . VI I . 2
.

We arr ived at Br imdisiu m November 25 , with you r

u su al good for t une in th e voy age ; so favor ably u pon
'

us blew fr om Epir u s the gentle wind of Onch esmu s

.

This spondaic line palm off, if you like, as your own

on one of you r you ng fr iends Your state of health
.

gr e at ly tr o u b les m e ; f or yo ur lett e r show s yo u a r e st ill

distr essed . Mor eover I althou gh knowing how str ong
,

yo u a r e , su s p e ct th er e is so me th in g wh ich m a k e s y o u

yield and almo st br eaks you down, thou gh your P am

phi l us h a s to ld m e t h e i nte r mi tt e n t a g e has left yo
u u

and a lighter for m has tak en its p lac e T er entia in

.

deed who also c ame to th e gat e of Br u ndisium at th e

,

same time th at I ar r iv ed at the h ar bo r , an d met me in

th e mar ket plac e, told me th at L u ciu s P ontiu s h ad
-

said to h er in T r ebula th at it had left yo u If that is

.

so it is a r easo n fo
,
r my gr eat est h0pe, an d I h0pe
yo u r r ecover y will b e the r esu lt of your pr u dence and
moder atio n I c ome now toyour letter s a number o
.
, f
which I r ec eived at one time, some of which I enjoye d
mor e than other s as th e y w er e wr itt en by yo ur self
, .

Thou gh I like th e wr iting of Alexis, which appr oac hes

son ear ly the liken ess o f yo ur h andwr iting, b u t I dono t
 LI X .
( ATT VII . . 119

like it, as it hows you ar e not well Since I have men

s .

tio ned it, I h ave left T ir o ill at P atr ic , a young man

whom you know, and if yo u wish an adj ectiv e take
,

u pr ight

. I have seennothing to take his plac e, I nd
it har d to dowithou t him Though he seems not tob e
.

ser io usly ill, yet I am an xiou s, and have the greatest

h 0pe in Maniu s Cu r iu s, abo u t which T ir o has wr itten
me and many have told me ; mor eover , Cu r ius himself
has p er c eiv ed ho w you wish him to please me, and that
g r e atly d e ligh ts m e A
. n d in d e ed th er e is i n th e m a n
a native politen ess which o ne soon gr ows fond of I .

am car r yin g h om e his w ill, se a led w i th th e sig ne ts of

my son and nephew and th e pm tor ian cohor t By .

wor d of month he has made you h eir to one tenth of -

his pr op er ty, me to o ne for tieth At Actium, in Co

-
. r

c yr a, Aleno pr ovid ed fo r me sumptu o usly Quintu s

Cic er o could no t be pr ev ent ed fr om seein g T hy a m i s .

I am glad that you take delight inyour little dau ghter ,

an d that it is pr oved to yo u that love fo r childr en is

natur al For , if this do es not exist, th er e can b e no

.

natur al bond of manto man, by th e r emoval of which

soc iety is d estr oyed I r etu r n to the su bj ect How I
. .

awaited the lette r yo u gav e to Philo xenus ! Fo r yo u

had wr itten that init was an acc ou nt of the wor ds of

P ompey at N aples . P atr on gav e it to me at Eru ndi
sium ; he h ad r ec eived it at Cor cyr a, I su po se N oth
p .

ing c o uld have been mor e pleasing fo r it was abo u t

,

th e r epu blic , and the o pinion th at man had of my in

tegr ity, and th e good feeling whic h h e sho wed in his
u tter an ces abo u t a triu mph Y et this was the most
.

p easing featu r e, that I knew th at you had gone to him

l
in or der that yo u might nd ou t his attitu de towar d
me ; this I say was most gr atifying to me Mor eover .
,

abou t the tr iumph, I had no d esir e be for e tho se most

impu dent lett er s o f Bibu lu s in c onse q u enc e o f which a
day of public celebratio nwas ob ser v ed I f tho se things .
120 S ELECT L ETT ER S OF CICER O .

we r e do ne by him which h e wr ote of, I sho uld r ejo ic e

and app r ov e o f the ho nor ; no w that h e who d id not se t
foot ou t of the gate as long as an enemy was on this
sid e of th e E u phr ates, sho u ld b e ho n or ed, and that I ,

u ponwho se ar my his ar my s h 0pe dep en d ed, sh ou ld not

obtainhonor , s a disgr ac e to us tou s I say, j oining you
i
with me SoI will tr y ever ything, and as I h 0pe I sh all
.

s u c ce e d
. Bu t if yo u w er e w e ll, so m e po in t s wou ld b e
for e no w h av e beenmade clear for me ; b u t as I hop e
y o u w i ll s oo n b e w e ll. I a m m u c h ob lige d t o you in r e

g a r d to th e b it of m o ne y N u m er iu s o w e d me I wish
.

to know what Ho r tensiu s h as done and wh at Cato is

doing ; h e was shamefu lly sp itefu l tome He gave me .

pr oof of integr ity, j u stice , consider ation, and faith ,

which I d id not ask ; what I demanded, h e de nied S o .

how Caesar , in that le tter inwhich he cong atu late s and r

p r omises me ev er ything, r evels in the wr ong of Cato ,

mo st ungr ateful to me And he de cr e ed a c elebr at ion
of twenty days for Bibu lu s ! P ar do n me , I cannot en
dur e th ese things I shou ld like toansw er you infu ll
.
,

b u t it is not nec e ssar y ; fo r I shall see yo u so o n Y et

.

this thing abo t Ch y pp s for I am less su r pr ised at

u r si u

that other , a wor king man; yet nothing is mor e wic ked
than thisChr ysippu s inde ed, who m I held in ho nor
on ac cou nt of so me liter ar y attainm ent whic h I h ailed
with gladness in him, has left my son witho u t my
knowledge I over look many other things whic h I h ear
.

of ; I ov er look theft b u t I cannot endu r e ight , whic h

,

se ems mo st abominable . I hav e ther efor e pu t in for ce

that old edict of Dr u su s the pm tor , as they call it, in
th e c ase o f a manwho d id no t swear wh enfr ee tokeep
the conditions o n which h e was fr eed, pleading th at I
h ad ne v er d e clar e d th em fr e e ; e sp ec ially as th er e was
noone pr e sent by wh om th e y c ou ld b e r ight ly claimed .

Yo u will r ec e ive it as it se e ms b est ; I will agr ee w ith

o I h av e n ot w itten a r e l to o ur ver y full letter
y u. r py y
 LI X ( ATT VI I
. . .
LX .
( FAM XVI
. . 12 1

wh ich tr eats of th e danger s of th e r ep u blic ; wh at

sh ou ld I wr it e ? I am gr eatly distur b ed ; b u t th at I
m ay not fear gr eatly, the P ar thians teach me a lesso n,
wh osu dde nly left Bibulus half dead .

LX .
( Fm . XVI .

Altho u gh wher ever I am I miss the convenience of

yo ur ser vices, yet it is not somu ch for my own sake
as fo r yo ur s that yo ur illn ess p ain s m e ; b u t it is tu r n ed

into the for m o f inter mitt ent agu efo r soCur iu s wr ite s
-
I hep e yo u will b e str o n ge r by b ei n g c a r e ful O n ly .

d owhat yo u o we toyo ur self as a man, and devote your

self ton othing else at this time b u t tor e cover as com
p le t el y as po ssib le . I am s en si b le how m u c h y o u su f
fer fr o m this ab sence ; b u t ever ything will b e easy if
y o u a r e w e ll. I a m u n w illin g to h ast e n y o u les t in yo u r

weakness you ar e sea sic k and have a danger ou s voyage

-

in th e winter . I came to th e city Janu ar y 4 Noth .

ing co uld b e mo r e to my honor th an th e r e c eption I

met Bu t I fell into th e ver y ames of civil discor d,
.

or r ather war , and althou gh I wishe d to c ompo se it,

and I think I could h ave do ne so th e d es ir es of c er t ai n
menfo
,

r o n each side th er e ar e those wh o wish to

h
g t hinder e d me Besides, my fr iend Cwsar has sent
.

a thr eaten ing and sever e letter toth e Senate, and is so

sh am eless as to hold his ar my an d pr o vince against th e
will of th e Senate, and Cur io ur ges him on And our .

Antony and Quintu s Cassiu s, though not for cibly ex

p e lle d , w en t to C aesa r w i th C u r io a ft er th e S e n at e h ad

given to th e c onsuls, pr mto r s, tr ibu nes of th e p e ople ,

and to tho se of u s o f consular r ank th e char ge o f the

int er ests of th e r epu blic Never was the state ingr eater
.

danger ; never have wicked citiz ens had a mor e r eady

leader . On this side mo st diligent pr epar ations ar e b e
ing mad e ; it is d one und er the au thority an d with the
 S EL ECT LETT ER S OF CICERO .

assis ance
t of wh o begins now toolate to fear
P o mp ey,
Caesar Y et amid th ese distu r banc es th e S enate has
.

de cr eed me the tr iu mph ; b u t the consul L entulus, that

he might make gr eater his sh ar e inco nfer r ing th e hono r,

said h e w o u ld pr opo se it as soon as h e h ad ae com

lish e d wh at w as nec essar y for th e r ep u blic I see k

p .

nopr ivate ends, and th er efor e have mor e w eight Th e .

distr ict s of Italy ar e distr ibu ted, and each man looks
after a p ar t I h ave taken Capu a I wished you to
. .

know these things Againand again, take c ar e of yo

.

health and wr ite to me whenever you have any one to

whom to give the letter Over and over , far ewell . .

Dec ember 31 .

LXI .
( Fan XI V . .

If you well, I am well Now it is a matter for

ar e .

o
y ,u and n o t fo r m e,
to d eci d e wh at yo u m u st do If .

Cae sar is goin g to co m e t o R o m e withou t hostilitie s,

y ou c an for th e p r ese n t r em a in a dv an tag e o u sly a t hom e

b u t if this madman is to give over th e city to b e plun

der ed, I fear that not even Dolab ella will b e su icient
pr ot ectio n for you Mor eover , I have the fear that we
.

may b e soon sh u t o, so that when you wish to leave

the c ity yo u c an not It r emains for you to consider
.

well wh ether women of you r r ank ar e at R o me ; for if

ther e ar e not you mu st see whether you can r emain
,

co nsistently w ith yo u r c har act er A s affair s ar e no

. w
situ at ed, if o n ly I am allow ed tohold this po st, yo u can

best b e with me or at so me of our far ms Be sides, it .

is tob e f ear e d that in a sho r t time th er e may b e famine

in th e city . Abou t these things I wish you would con
su lt with P o mpou ius, with Camillus, with those who
se e m b e st to yo u , an d be o f goo d cheer to th e last .

L abienu s has h elp ed affair s ; and Piso aids in h aving

withdr awn fr om th e city and disappr oved of th e cr imi
nal cour se of his soninlaw Y ou , my d ear est ones,
- -
.
 L XI .
( FAM . XI V .
LXII .
( ATT VI I . . 123

wr ite to me as oftenas you can, both wh at you ar e d o

ing and what is go ing on th er e Quintu s,
fath e
.r and
son, and Rufus salu te you F ar ewell Dec emb er 25
. . .

L XII . VII .

Yo u h ear befo r e I do of ou r misfor tu nes ; for th e y

star t fr om your po sitio n; and th er e is nothing go od

which you can exp ect fr om h er e I c ame to Capu a .

Febr u ar y 5 , as th e consu ls or d er ed me On th at d ay .

L entu lu s c ame late ; the oth er co nsul did no t come at

all o n Febr u ar y 7 , for th en I left Capu a and h ave c o me
to Cales, wher e I am wr iting to day b efor e daybr eak
-
.

I knew th ese things while I was at Capu a ; th er e is no

hope in the consuls nor anywher e , for th e r ecr u iting
omcer s do not dar e toshow th eir fac es since Caesar is ,

at hand and o ur leader is n owher e and does nothing ;

,

they do not give in their names, for not their willing

ness, b u t th eir hop e fails Mor eover our Cnmusalas,
.

wh t a wr etc hed and

a in c edib e matte
r l r hi i
t s s how
wholly h e is pr o str at e ! He has nocour age, no plans,
nor eso ur ces, noper sever ance Th e new s I send is of
.

th e disgr aceful ight fr o m the city, th e frightened meet

ings in th e towns th e ignor ance both o
,
f th e r eso ur c es
of the enemy and of their own; wh at do es this signify ?
F ebr uar y 7 Caiu s Cassius th e tr ibu ne, c ame toCapu a
, ,

and br ou ght or der s toth e c onsuls to c ome toR o me to ,

draw money fr om th e spe cial tr easu r y, and immediat ely

togofor th .Bu t canth ey r etur nafter abandoning th e
c ity ? Und er what pr ote ction? Then c anth ey goou t ?
Whowould allow them ? Th e c onsul advises him r st
to gointo Picenu m, b u t that distr ic t is entir ely lo st ; I
am the on ly o ne who knows it fr om th e letter s of D ola p

be lla I have not a dou bt b u t th at he is even now in

Apu lia, and Gnaeu s on shipbo ar d Wh at sh all I d o .

?

It is a gr eat qu estion, and ther e would not have b een

124 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

any if e er v ything h ad not b eend one most disgr acefu lly,

and if I had b eenconsulted ; yet I mu st d owhat is tte d .

Dolab ella and Ce lina o t that he is pleased with

r ep r

me . I am tor tur ed with d ou b t ; help me with your

ad vice if yo u can and look ou t as far as possible for
,

y o ur inter ests I hav e nothing towr ite in such con

.

fu sion; I await your letter .

L XI IL VI I I .

Dionysius, your fr iend r ather thanmine, abou t whom,

afte r su icient discover y of his ch ar ac ter , I yet relied
on yo ur j u dgment more thanonmy own, paying nor e
g ar d e v e n to th e tes tim o ny w hi c h you ha d o fte n g iv en
me onhis behalf, has sh own himself ar r o g a n t in vie w
of what he expe cted would b e my cir cumstances ; these ,
however , as far as canb e done by humanmanagement,
I will cont r ol and dir ec t r ationally What h onor , what
.

atte n tion, what commendation to other s of this despi

c able manhas he ever been at a loss fo r fr om me How
I pr efer r ed that my j u dgment should b e censur ed b y
my br other Quintu s and pu blic ly b y all, r ather than
that h e should no t b e pr aised, and that o ur twoCicer o s

shou ld b e tau ght in p ar t by my labor r ather thanfo r

me to seek anoth er master fo r th em What letter s,

.

immor tal gods, I did wr ite ! How full of honor , of

love ! Y o u wou ld say that I wer e summon ing Diemar
chus o r Ar isto xenus, and no t a manmo st lo q u ac ious an d
least tted toteach
. Bu t he has a good memor y .

He sh all say I have a better He answer ed my letter s

.

in a way that I never u se d to any o ne whose cause I

was r efu sing tou nder ta ke ; for always I said, If I can ,

un le ss I sh all h inder the c au se alr ead y u nder taken .

Never did I r efu se any ac c used man, ho wever humble,

 LXI II .
( ATT VIII
. .
LXI V .
( ATT VI I I . . 125

guilt y, or u nfr iendly in su ch a p ositiv e way as this

,

man who atly r efu sed me I never knew anything

.

mor e ungr atefu l, a qu ality in whic h th er e is nolac k of

wickedness Bu t too mu ch of this I have mad e r eady
. .

a ship ; I yet await a letter fr o m yo u th at I may kno w ,

what they r eply to my inquir y for advice Y ou know .

that at S uim o Caius Atr iu s P e lignus thr ew open th e

ga t es to A nto ny ,
tho u gh th er e w er e v e c oho r t s and ,

Quintu s L u c r etiu s ed and Cnaau s went toBrI m disiu m,

d eser ted The aair is over
. .

L XIV . VIII .

After I disp atch ed a letter toyoub efor e light Janu

ar y 25 , at e ven ing o n that same d ay came D ionysiu s
himself, u r ged by yo u r au thor ity as I think ; for what
,

else can I think ? Althou gh h e u su ally is sor r y when

he has done anything in a passion N ever was h e mo r e
.

fr antic thanin this aair ; for wh at I did not wr ite you ,

I hear d after war ds h e we nt thr ee miles angr ily toss ,

ing many things into th e air with his hor ns, I say h e

said man y evil things, which may r e ect on his own

head, as th ey say Bu t what clemency was mine ! I
.

tied into a package with you r letter a str o ngly exp r essed
one fr om me ; this I wish r etur ned tome and for noth ,

ing else I sent P ollic es, my lack ey toR ome Mo ,

r e ov er .
,

onthis accou nt I h ave wr itt en you th at if by ch anc e it

,

sh ou ld b e deliv er ed toyo u y ou m ay
,
t ak e c ar e to se n d
it back tome, that it may no t get into his h ands If .

ther e wer e any news, I sh ould h ave wr itten I am .

an xiou s inmind o n acc ou nt of th e movement at Cor

niu m on which d epends th e d ecision abo u t th e state s

safety . I wish you wou ld take car e that th e p ackage

whic h is addr essed to Maniu s Cu r iu s b e deliver e d to
him, and r ecommend T ir o toCu r iu s th at h e may pay ,

fo r h im as I r equ est ed wh ate ver e xp en se s h e has .

126 SELECT LET TER S OF CI CERO .

L XV . VI II .

L et my u se of an amanu ensis be a sign of a weakness

in my eye s, and a r easo n too fo r the sho r t ness of my

le tter , tho u gh indeed at p r e sent ther e is no thing to

wr ite abo u t ; all our attentio n is xe d on the ne ws fr om
Br u nd isiu m .S u pposmg h e h as su c c ee d e d in ov e r tak

ing ou r ch ief, th e n th er e is a faint ho pe of p eac e ; b u t

if h e nd P omp ey go ne acr o ss alr eady, ther e is dange r
of a bloody war . Bu t do yo u appr ec iate th e man in to
whose hands th e cou ntr y has fallen? how lynx eyed h e -

is, how wat c hfu l, how r eady ? Upo n my wo r d , if it

shou ld pr ove th at h e h as pu t nobody tod eath , an d has
not taken a single thing fr om anybody, h e will b e in
tensely pop u lar with th e ver y pe ople who b efore dr eaded
h im mo st . I get a good deal of talk with the p eople of
th e c o u ntr y towns, a good deal with th e small farmer s ;
th ey car e for absolu tely nothing b u t th eir elds, th eir
little far m hou ses, their p altr y savings
-
And se e how
.

th e c ondit ions ar e r ever sed : th ey dr ead the man they

for mer ly tr u st ed ; th ey lov e th e one they u sed to fear .

I cannot b u t bitter ly r ee ct what follies and cr imes

ou r s mu st have been tobr ing u s to this As towhat .

I believe is coming I have wr itten to you, and am

now awaiting you r answer .

L XVI . VI II .

I have got ev er ything r ead y except some safe and

secr et r o ad to the Adr iatic b ecau se o,
ne cannot v en
tur e u pon our waters at this timc of year Bu t how .

am I toget tothe p lac e wh er e my feelin g inc lines and

wher e my du ty c alls me ? For goI mu st and qu ickly,
lest I b e tr appe d and tied by some ill chance I t is not .

th e man himself howe v er wh ois the attr actio n as is

, , ,

su ppo sed ; fo r I nd him tob e as poor a gener al among

 LXVI .
( ATT V
.I I I . 127

ge ner als as I knewhim long agoto b e a poor statesman

amon g sta te s m en . It is n ot h e ,
th e r e fo r e ,
w h o is t h e i n
du cement, b ut the talk of pe ople abo u t which I hear
fr om Philotimus, who tells me I am mu ch cu t u p now
b y the nob les .

Nobles indeed ! Good heavens ! look
ho w they are hasting ou t inpr oc essions ; look h ow they
ar e bar gain ing themselves away to Ca e sar . To th e
countr y towns ind eed he is r eally divine : none of the
hypocr isy with whic h they u sed to od er pr ayer s for his
r ival dur in g hi s illnes s T
. h e fa c t is , th a t a ny v i o l en t
act o ur mod er n P eisistr atu s is tho u ght tohav e abst ain ed

fr om doing gives as mu ch pleasur e as if h e had stopped

somebo dy else fr om doing it ; h e , they hope , may pr ove
b en ignant ; his r ival the y fanc y in a fu r iou s passion .

Doyo u take in to acc ou nt what a r ec eptionh e gets fr om

the cr owd o u t of ever y town ,
wh a t c o m p lim e n t s a r e

p aid hi m ? A ll fe ar , yo w
u ill say . Ju st so, b u t then
I give you my wor d it is r ather of his antogonist ; they
ar e char med with th e ar tful moder ation o f o ne ; th ey
shu d der at th e violen ce of th e oth er . Tho se who are
on the jur y list of the thr ee hu ndr ed and sixty, and
-

used tob e th e chief admir er s o fo u r P omp ey , ar e n ow

( I see one or the other of th em ever y d ay) horr ied at
so mething or other of his L u cer ian pr oc eedings ; and
soI ask who ar e your

nobles, th at th ey shou ld tr y to

dr ive me o u t fr om Italy wh ile th ey th em se lv e s stop at

home ? Bu t still b e th ey what th ey may, I fear the

,

Tr oj ans
. Y et I see c le ar ly all th at I c an hope fo r if I

do star t ; and I am casting in my lot with one who is

not somu ch pr epar ed for c onqu est as for laying Italy
waste Indeed , while penning these lines onth e fou r th ,
.

I am expecting news fr om Br I m disiu m New s indeed !

how he had disgr ac ed himself by r u nning away fr om
.

ther e, and by what r oad and inwhat dir e ction his con
q u er or is r et u r n in g W
. h en I h a v e a sc e r t a in e d th is ,
if h e

comes by the Appianr o ad, I think I shall to Ar pinu m .

128 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

L XVII . I X 11, A )
. .

Upon r e ading your letter which I r ec eived thr ough

our fr iend F ur niu s r e qu e sting me tostay some wher e
withinr each of town, I was not somu ch sur pr ised at
y our e xpressin g a w is h to avail yo u r self of my j u dg ment
and my po sitio n, as do u btful o f the meaning you in
tended toc onvey by my inu enc e and assistance H0pe , .

however , led me tothe inter pr etationof conclu ding that

as might b e exp ec te d fr om o ne of your admir able , in

deed pr eeminent wisdom you wer e anxiou s that nego
tiations sho u ld b e op ened on behalf of th e tr anqu illity,
peac e , and u nion of our cou ntr ymen; for which pur
pose I cou ld not b u t r e ect that both by my natur e and
the p ar t I h ave played , I was well enou gh suite d If .

this b e r eally th e case, and if you feel any desir e at all

to show d u e consider ation for my friend P ompey and ,

br ing him into har mony once mor e with your self and
with the r ep u blic you will assur edly nd noone be tt er
,

tte d for that task than I am ; who have ever given

pacic c o u nsels toh im, and tothe Senate as soon as I ,

fou nd Oppor tu nity .

S inc e th e app eal toar ms, no t on ly have I no t taken

th e smallest p ar t in this war b u t have c ome to th e
,

c on clusion that by war a gr ievo u s wr o n g is do ne to

your self against who se r ightful pr ivileges gr ante d by
, ,

sp e cial favor o f th e R oman people, th e attacks of the

sp itefu l and j ealo u s wer e bein g dir e c t e d B u
. t j ust as

at that time I n ot only p er sonally su ppor t ed your r ight

fu l po sitio n b u t c o u nselled ev er ybody else tolend yo
,
u

th eir assistance sonow it is th e r ights of P ompe y for

,

which I am deeply concer ned ; becau se it is now sever al

year s sinc e I r st selec te d you men as th e obj ects of
my mo st loyal devotion with who m I w ould c hoo se tob e
,

un ited as I no w am in ties of th e clo sest fr iendship

Conse qu ently I hav e this r e qu e st to mak esay fath er
, , .
 LXVI I I .
( A TT 1X. . 120

that I implor e and b e se ech you with ever y plea that I

c an use e ve n amo n g y o u r w e ig h t y a nxi e ties t o allot
so me tim e tothis c o n sid er atio n also h o w I may be al ,

lowe d by your kind indu lgence to show myself a man

of honor ; one, in shor t whois gr atefu l and aec tionate
,

fr om th e r ecollectio n of th e ver y gr eat kindness h e

once r eceived Even if this co nc er ned me alone I
.
,

shou ld still atter myself th at to me yo u wo u ld gr an t

it ; b u t in my opinion it e qu ally concer ns both yo ur
own honor and th e p u blic welfar e that I, who am one ,

of a ver y small nu mber shou ld still b e r etained in th e

,

b est po ssible po sition for pr omoting th e har mony of

y o u t wo ,a n d of ou r fe llow co u n t r
-
ym en Tho u gh I .

have alr eady th anked you in the matter of L entu lu s for

b eing th e pr eser ver of a man who had once beenmine ,

y e t f or m y p ar t o n
,
r e ad in g th e l et te r wh ic h h e h as se nt
me wr itten in a spir it of th e war mest gr atitu de and
,

kindness I even pictur ed myself as owing to you th e

,

safety whic h yo u have gr an ted to him ; and if this

,

shows yo u that I am o f a gr at efu l natur e in his c ase,

se c u r e me I e n
,
tr eat you some Oppor tu nity of showing
,

myself noless soin the case of P ompey .

L XVIII . IX .

A s you advised inboth p ects ; inthe r st plac e my

r es ,

language was calc u lat e d r ather to make him r espe c t

th an b e gr at efu l to me, and in th e second I stu c k to

,

my point no going to the town Wh er e I was d e .

c eiv ed , was in h avin g e xp e c t e d to n d h im yi e ld in g; I

have never seen anything less so My decision says .
,

h e, is a c ensu r e o n himself and oth er s will b e mor e in

,

clin ed to han g b ack if I h av e r e fu se d to c o m e ; I r e p ly

that their c ase is no t the same After mu ch of this
.
,

Well come then and pr opose a p eac efu l settlement

,

.

And, say I, with full discr etio n?

Am I, says
130 S EL ECT LET TERS OF CI CERO .

he, to dic tate toyou ? This pay I is what I shall

, ,

r o o se : th at in th e Op in io n o f th e S e na t it is ine x
p p , e ,

pedient that yo u sho uld pr oc eed to S p ain an d that,

tr oops shou ld b e conve y ed to Gr eece ; and I shall, I

add , fully expr ess my sympathy for P ompey

Then .

he ,
Bu t that I cannot appr ove of yo u r saying Ju st .

what I was thinking say I

, b u t the ver y r e ason why
,

I do no t want tob e ther e is that I mu st eith e r sp eak

,

inthis way, and abo u t many things whic h I co uld not

le ave u nsaid on any ter ms if I w er e th er e, o r e lse n ot
g o a t all
. I n t h e e n d a s ,
if h e w er e an x io u s to q u it
th e discu ssio n, Would I then take time to think over
it ? This cou ld not b e r efu sed SO we p ar ted I . .

fancy, ther efor e, that h e is not mu ch in love with me,

b u t I am in lov e with myself a feeling towhich I have ,

long be en a str anger As fo r th e r e st , good h eav en s

.
,

wh at a fo owi g
l l n h e h a s q u it e an Infer no , as yo u ar e

fond of descr ibing it, a playgr ou nd of cr imes ! 0 th e

u tt er villain y th e gang o f desper adoe s ! What d o
o sa to a s on Of S u l p ic iu s an d a noth er of T i tiniu s
y u y
being actu ally in an ar my besieging P ompe y ? Six
legi ns ! a
o n d h e is a s w a tc hf u l a s h e is bo ld I see no
limit to tr o u bles . Well, now assur edly you must pr o
du ce yo ur advice ; it was agr eed that this was the last
thing to wait o f r S ill c n
t that o clusion of his which

.

I had all b u t o tt m i ed is annoying ; th at if I wou ld no t

allow him toavail himself of my adv ic e, h e wo uld take
that of persons who wer e available and condesc end to ,

all c o un sels alike Have I r eally then seen the gr e at

.

man as I had said and smar ted for it ? Y es, ind eed I
, ,

have Give you th e sequ el? After that, he to his

.
!

house at P edu m I toAr pinu m ; fr om which plac e I for

,

my par t am onth e lookou t for th e always cheer y pr attle

pr omised in your letter Come plagu e on it you will
.
, ,

say n ,
o doing what is alr eady done with Bu t I am
.

ex p ec t in g yo u r le t te r ,
f or your let u s wait and see how

 LXVI II .
LXI X ( ATT x1
. . . 131

this will t u r n ou t is no longer anygood This meet .

ing of our s was to b e the nal thing ; and as I dou bt

no t that by it I have o end ed our fr iend, we mu st act
all the mor e pr omptly If you lov e me, a lett er full of
.

politic s ; I am so anxiou sly looking now for what you

will hav e to say .

L XIX . XI .

I c v yo ur letter Febr u ar y 4 , and on that ver y

r e ei ed

day acc epte d the in h er itanc e fr om the will ; I have been

r eliev ed Of On e Of my mo st tr o u blesome c ar es, if, as

y o u w r it e,
th at in h e r it an c e c an p r ese r ve m y c r e d it an d
r ep u tatio n ,
w hi c h in d ee d I k now y o u w o u ld h a v e d e

fended with your wealth, even withou t the inh er itance .

As to what yo u wr ite abo u t th e dowr y by all th e gods

,

I b eg you to u nder take the whole aair , and guar d Tu l

lia, u nhappy thr ou gh my fau lt and negle ct , by wh at r e
mains of my wealth and you r r esour c es as far as it will
not b e b ur d ensome to you ; I implor e yo u , do n ot let
her suer , as yo u w r ite, fo r th e n eed of an yt hing Bu t
.

ho w has the income fr om th e far ms beensp ent ? Then,

noone ever told me that tho se sest er c es which

y o u s p e a k of in yo ur lett e r h ad b een t ak e n f r o m th e

dowr y ; for I never would have allowed it Bu t this is .

the least Of the wr ongs towhic h I have b een su bj e cte d ;

of the oth er s I am pr evente d by gr ief and te ar s fr o m
writing to you Of that money which was in Asia I
.
,

have demanded near ly a half ; I thought it would be

safer ther e thanwith th e mo n ey len
-
der s Y ou ur ge me
.

to be of goo d cour age ; I wish you cou ld add one thing,

a r eason fo r my bein g so Bu t if in addition to my
.
,

other tr ou bles, this one also comes which Chr ysipp u s

says is impen
ding you did not mention it abo u t my
house, who h as ever been mor e wretched than I ? I
ask I be se ec h , p ar don; I can wr ite no mor e
,
Yo
. u

su r ely se e with what sor r o w I am oppr essed If I had

.
 SELECT LET TER S OF CI CERO .

anyt h ing in c ommon with the other s who se em to b e in

the same p ligh t, my fau lt wou ld seem less and o n that ,

ac c o u nt easie r to bear ; now ther e is nothing to conso le

me u nless you br ing it to pass, if in any way it can b e
,

done th at I shall not b e assailed by any p ecu liar ca

,

lamity and inj u stice I sent to you th e letter c ar r ier

.
-

some wh at late as I h ad n
,
omeans of sending I have .

r ece ive d sester ce s in coin and of gar ments su ch

as wer e need e d By this you will see that I dir ec t le t

.

t er s in my own na m e y ou k now my follower s if the y

r equir e my seal o r han d wr iting, you will say I did not
-

u se th ese o nacc ou nt Of spies .

L XX .
( Fm . IX
.

Fr om tho se letter s fr om you which Atticu s r ead to

me, I have lear ned what you wer e doing and wher e you
wer e ; b u t I cou ld not lear n fr om these same letter s
when I should see you Y et I hope that your c oming
.

is near ; I hope it will b e a consolation fo r me ! Ev e n

if I am impe lled by somany and su ch misfor tu nes that
noone in his r ight mind o u ght to hOpe for any r elief ;
b u t yet eith er yo u c an aid me, o r I p er haps
you Fo r .

le t me t ell you that after I came into th e city I r etu r ned

to the favor of my o ld fr iends, that is, my books ; al

tho u gh I had no t abando ned them becau se I u nder v alu e d
th em, b u t becau se I was a little ashamed in r e gar d to
them ; for it seemed to me wh en I let myself down into
pu blic c ommotio ns with mo st unfaithful asso ciate s
, ,

that I had not su iciently obeyed their command s .

They par donme and call me back into ou r for mer in

ter co ur se an,
d say as you never abandoned it yo
,
u w er e ,

wiser than I Th er efor e since I nd them app ease d , I

.

think I shou ld hop e that if I see you I shall easily ,

over c ome th e th ing s wh ic h oppr ess me and tho se which

thr eate n . Th er efor e wh eth er at Tu sculu m, or Gu mm,
,
 LXX ( FAM I X . . .
L XXI ( FAM I X
. . . 13

or even at R ome, which is least accep table to me , yO u

choo se to h ave me co me toyo u , if only we ar e toge th er ,

I will at once see that our plac e of meeting is equally

agr ee able to u s .

L XXI .
( Fm . IX .

I was dou bly pleased with your letter , both because

4 1 myself lau gh ed at it, and becau se I know yo
- u can

laugh ; mor eover I was no t angr y that, lik e the clowno

, f
the tr o op , I was the bu tt of your sever ity I am sor r y .

that I c o uld not come intoyo ur par t of the cou ntr y, as

I had deter mined ; for you would have had not a
str an g e r , b u t a boo n co m p anio n B u t wh at a ma n ! .

Not the one whom you use d to satisfy with th e r elish ;

I br ing a hear ty app etite toth e eggs ; and somy atten
tio n is bestowed even to th e r oast veal Those old .

habits of mine ar e gone which you u sed t o pr aise

He is a man easy to enter tain! A gu est not har d to
su it !

Fo r I h av e thr own aside all my c ar e fo r th e r e

pu blic my thou ght Of expr essing my Opinions in the

,

Senate my car efu l pr ep ar ation of c ases, and I h ave

,

thr ownmyself into the camp of Epicur us , my opponent ;

not however with a view to immoder ate indu lgence
, ,

her e b u t to that elegance of your s, your elegance I

, ,

mean of th e time wh enyou h ad as mu ch as you wanted

,

to sp end thou gh you never had mor e far ms thannow

, .

So make r eady ; fo r you ar e to en ter tain a man with an

en o r mo u s appetite, who now knows something of ele
g an c e ; b e sid es, yo u k now how h au ghty m e n ar e who
lear n late ; yo u mu st for get all abo u t yo ur little fr uit

baskets and wine cakes Now I am sofar a pr ocient

-
.
,

that I venture toinvite your fr iend Ver r ins and Camil s

lu s men of su ch ele ganc e ! su ch r e nement ! Bu t see
my bo ldness Mor e over I gave a feast to Hir tiu s, yet
.
,

withou t a peacock ; b u t at this banqu et my c ock cou ld

no t imitate an y th ing ex c e
p t a hot s ou
p T h is is now .
 S EL ECT LETT ER S OF CICERO .

my life : I nth e mor ning I r e ceiv e at ho me many excel

lent b u t sadd ened men, and those h appy victors who
tr eat me with gr eat mar ks of civility and este em After .

the r eception is over , I devote myself to letters an d

e ith er wr it e o r r ead Ther e evencome so me wholisten
.

to me as if to a learned man, since I am a litt le mor e

lear n ed thanthey The n all my time is given to my
.

p hy s ic al in ter es ts I h
. ave now m o ur ne d my co u ntr y
more deeply and longer than any mother for an only
so n Bu t if you love me , take c ar e of you r health, that
.

I may not eat u p your good things while you lie ill ; for
I have determined not to spare you evenif you are ill .

LXXII .
( FAX I V.6 . .

Y es, my dear Ser vius, I cou ld indeed wish you had

beenwith me, as you say, at the time of my terr ible

tr ial . How mu ch it was in yo ur power to help me if
y o u ha d b ee n h e r e, by s y m p a thi z in g w i th , an d I m a y
almo st say, shar in g eq u a lly i n m yg r ie f, I r ea d ily p er

ceiv e fr o m the fact that after r eadin g yo ur l ett er I fe e l

my self consider ably mor e c omposed ; for not only is all
that you wr o te just what is best calcu lated to soothe
a lictio n, b u t you yo ur self, in comfor ting me, showe d
that you toohad nolittle painat hear t Your sonS er .

vins, however , has mad e it clear by ever y kindly atten

tionwhich su ch anoccasionwo uld per mit of, both how
g r ea t h is r e sp ec t w a s f o r m y s elf , a n d a ls o how m u c h
pleasur e his kind feeling for me was likely togive you ;
an d yo u may b e sur e th at , while su c h atten tions fr om
him have Often been mor e pleasant to me , th ey have
never made me more gr ate ful It is not, however , only
.

your ar gu me nts and you r e qual shar e , I may almo st

c all it, in th is aiictio n which c omfor ts me b u t also ,

y o u r au tho r it y; b e c au se I h o ld it s h a m e in me not to
be be ar ing my tr o uble in a way th at yo u, a man en ~
 LXXII .
( PAM.I V .

dowed with su ch wisd om, think it ought tobe hom e .

But at times I do feel br oken down, and I scar c ely

make any stru ggle against my gr ief, be cau se those con
so lations fail me whic h, und er similar c alamities, were
never wanting to any of those other people whom I pu t
before myself as models for imitation Both Fabius
m
.

Maximu s, for exam e, when he lost a son who had

held th e consulship, the her oof many a famous explo it ;
an d L u cius P au lns, fr o m whom twowere taken in o ne
week ; and you r ownkinsmanGallus ; and Mar cu s Cato,
who was d epr ived of a son of r ar est talents and the
r ar est vir tu e, all th ese lived in times wh en th eir in di
vid ual aliction was capable of nding a solace in the
distinctions they u sed to ear nfr om their cou ntr y For .

me how ever , after being str ipped of all those distinc

,

tions wh ich I had wo n for myself by u npar alleled exer

tions, only that one solac e r emained, which has been
tor n away . My thoughts wer e not diver ted by wor k
fo r my fr ien ds, or by th e ad min istr ation o f the aair s
of stat e ; there was no pleasur e in pleading in the
co u r t s ; I could not bear the ver y sight of the Senate
House ; I felt, as was indeed too tr u e, that I had lo st
all the har vest of both my indu str y an d my su cc ess .

Bu t whenever I wante d to r eco llect that all this was

sh ar ed with yo u an d other fI iends I co uld name, and
wh enever I was br eaking my self in and forc ing my
sp ir it tobear these thin s with p atien c e I a lway h ad
g , s

a r efuge togotowh er e I might nd peace, and inwho se

words of co mfor t and sweet so ciety I co uld r id me of
all my p ain s and gr iefs
. Wher eas now u nd er this ter
,

r ible blow, eventho se o ld wou nd s which seem to hav e

h ealed u p ar e bleed ing afr esh ; for it is impo ssible for
m e now tond su ch a r efu ge fr om my sor r ows at home ,
in th e bu siness of th e stat e, as in those days I did in
th at consolation Of home which was always in stor e
whenever I came away sad fr om thou ght s of state to .
136 SELECT L ETTER S OF CI CERO .

see k for p eace in her happiness And so I stay away .

both fr om home and fr om pu blic life ; be cau se home

now is no mor e able to make up for th e sor r ow I feel
when I think of our countr y thanou r cou ntry is for my
sor r ow at ho me . I am th er efor e looking for ward all the
mor e eager ly to yo u r coming, and long to see you as
ear ly as that may po ssibly b e : n o gr eat er alleviation
c an b e O er ed m e th an a me etin g between u s fo r

fr iendly inter cou r se and conver sation I hope, how .

ev er , that yo ur r et u r n is to take plac e , as I he ar it is,

shor tly .As fo r myself, while th er e ar e abu n dant r ea ~

sons fo r wan ting to see you as soon as po ssible my ,

pr incipal one is in or der that we may disc u ss together

befor ehand the best method of condu ct for pr esent
cir cu m stanc e s, whic h mu st entir ely b e ad apt ed to th e

wishe s of one man only a man never th eless who is

, , ,

far se eing and gener ou s and also as I think I hav e

-
, , ,

thor ou ghly ascer tained to me not at all ill disposed ,

,
-

an d to yo u extr e mely fr ien dly Bu t admitting this, it

.

is still a matt er fo r mu ch deliber atio n wh at is the lin e,

I do not say of action, b u t of keeping qu iet that we ,

ou ght by his good leave and favor to ad opt Far ewell . .

L XXIII .
( F m . VI I .

I r emember whenyou seemed tome tob e inju diciou s

becau se you pr efer r ed to live with those fr iends of
your s, r ather than with us ; for a dwelling in this city,
whenindeed it was this city was mu ch mor e su ite d to
,

your cu ltu r e and r enement than the whole P elopon

nesu s, not to mentionP atr ic No w, onthe oth er hand,
.

yo u s eem to m e to h av e h ad gr ea t for e si ght in g ing

o
into Gr e ec e wh en affair s h er e had almo st r eached a
cr isis an
,
d at this time you ar e no t o nly wise in being
away fr o m h e r e , b u t alsohappy Thou gh who, who is
.

at all disc er ning, ca n no w b e ha p py ? B u t I ha ve I na,

 L XXIV .
( FAM XIII
. . 137

dier ent way c ome toab ou t th e sam e r esu lt wh ic h you ,

wh ow er e at lib er ty to d o so, acco mp lish e d by ight,
that yo u might b e th e r e

wh er e neith er of th e P e lo
p id m y ou k n ow th e r es t ; fo r aft e r I h a v e r ece iv e d
the gr e etings Of my fr iend s, wh ic h ar e mo r e nu me r ou s
than th ey u sed to b e , b e c au se men think they se e a
citiz en Of c or r ec t op in ions, a sight as r ar e as a white
bir d, I hid e my self in th e libr ar y . Thu s I am aec om
p lishi n g a g r e at wo r k wh ic h y o u w il l p e r h ap s u nd e r

stan d, for I lear ne d from a r emar k of you r s at my

home , wh en you r epr oved my sadness and gloom, th at
y ou see in m y wo r k s a S p ir it wh ich y o u d o n o t nd in
myself . Bu t then I was i ev ing fo r th e r epu blic ,
which was dear er tome th an life, not alone on ac co unt
of its benets tome, b u t mine toit, and at this time,
altho u gh no t o nly r easo n, whic h sho u ld avail mo st, c o n
so les me, b u t also t im e , which u su ally so othe s even th e
weakest minds ; yet I lam ent tosee th e whole comm on
wealth has sofallen th at th er e is not ev en a hop e left
of its ever r ising Nor in tr u th is the fau lt , indeed, in
.

that maninwho se pow er ev er ything isu nless p er hap s

th at ou ght not tohav e b een the case, b u t some things
h ave so happ ened by chance, and other s by ou r own
fau lt , that we mu st not c omplainOf what is p ast I see .

no hop e left , th er efor e I r etu r n to my r st su bj ect ;

wisely you h ave left these conditions, if by choic e ;

for tunately, if by chance .

LXXIV .
( m
F . XIII .

I am p er su aded that th e L aced aamonians have no

dou bt Of being su iciently r ecommended toyour int eg
r ity an d j u stic e by th eir own and th eir ance stor s d ig

nity, and I whoknow you best, have not dou bted th at

,

th e r ight s and claims Of differ ent p e op le w er e v er y well

knowntoyo u . S O when th e L aced semon ian Phillipu s
138 SELECT LETTERS OF CICER O .

as ek d me to commend th e state to your car e, thou gh I

r em emb er ed I owed ever ythin g to that state, yet I r e
plied that the L aced wmonians did not need a r ecom
mend ationto you . SoI wish yo u to u n d er stand that I
think all th e states of A chaia happy in that you ar e in
c har ge o f them inth ese tur bulent times, and th at I also
j u dge that you , because you alone hav e knownnot only
our histor y b u t that of Gr eec e, of yo u r own accor d ar e
,

and will b e a fr iend toth e L ace dmmo nians Th er efor e

.

somu c h I ask o f yo u , wh enyo u fo r t heir sake do what

y o ur d elity , gen er o sity ,

and se n se of j u st ic e p r o m t
p ,
that yo u may, if yo u thin k best, show them that you ar e
not displease d at knowing th at what you ar e doing is
also agr eeable tome ; fo r it is fo r my in ter est th at they
sho u ld thin k th at I have a c ar e fo r th eir a air s ; this
againan d again I b eg yo u ear n estly .

LXXV .
( F m . VI .

I congr at ulate you , my dear Balb u s and I tr uly con ,

g r at u lat e o
y ,u n or am I so st u p id as to w ish yo u tohav e

the enjoym ent o f a false pleasur e, and th en to lose it

so that n othing can aft er war ds r estor e you to tr an
qu illity of mind I h ave plead your cau se mor e openly
.

thanmy cir cu mstances allowed ; for eventhe disadv an

tage of my diminish ed inu ence was over come by th e
r egar d felt fo r y ou a nd m y u nc h ange ab le aection
to war d you , which on your p ar t has b een most car e
fu lly c her ished All pr omises have b een obtained,
.

mad e c er t ain and sur e, which r elate to your r etur nand

safety . I myself saw them and was pr esent as a wit
ness F or for tu nately enou gh , I have all th e adh er
.
,

en ts of Owsar sou nited by cou r tesy and good will that -

they consider me inth e ne xt place tohim Indeed this .

is so tr u e o f P ansa Hir tiu s Balb u s Oppiu s, Matins

, , , ,

an d Po stu miu s, that th er e is n oone th ey love somu c h

 L XXV .
( FAM vi
. . 139

as me Evenif I had beenobliged toeect this by my

.

own exer tions, I should not hav e r ep ente d of having

co ntr ived matter s thu s, consider ing the natur e of th e
times ; b u t I had to yield inno thing on acc ou nt of th e
times ; my for mer r elations still hold good with all tho se
with whom I have not ceased to tr eat in your behalf .

Y et the gr eatest assistant I had was P ansa, who was

devote d toyou , fond of me, a manwhohad with Caesar
the inu ence of au thor ity , no t mer ely of per sonal liking .

Mor eover , Cimber Tilliu s entir ely satised me Caasar .

is no t so mu ch in u enc ed by pr essing p etitions, as

tho se which have some claim of fr iendship Since .

Cimber s wer e su c h , h e had mor e inu ence than he

would have had u nder any oth er conditions Th e oi .

cial do cu ment is no t immediately given, whic h is d u e to

a r emar kable feeling o n th e par t of some who would
have been bitter ly offended at par don being ext ended
to you , whom they call th e tr u mp et of civil war , and
sothey say man y things as if they w er e not glad that
th e war did happ en . Sowe have thou ght it best to
keep the matter r ather clo se, and not in any way to
annou nce p u blicly that your c ase h as alr ead y be en d e
cided ; b u t that will happen shor tly, and I have no
dou bt that the matter will b e attended to by th e time
yo u ar e r eadin this letter
g .P ans a in d ee d , a m a n o f au

tho r ity an d tr u st , no t only pr omised, b u t evenpledg ed

himself to pr ocur e th e dec r ee at onc e . However , I
have been pleased to send an accou nt of these things
toyo u , for fr o m a talk with Ep u leia, an
p d th e t e ars o f
Ampia, I lear ned you wer e less r m than your letters
intimate ; and th ey think yo u w ill b e ingr eater anxiety
sin ce th ey ar e away fr om yo u . Ther efor e I thou ght it
wor th while, in or der to lighten your anxiety and sor
ro w, to wr ite toyou befor ehand th e good news which
assu r e dly will b e ver i ed . Y ou know th at I have fo r

mer ly been ac cu stomed to wr ite to you in su ch t erms

14 0 SELECT LETTERS OF CICER O .

as might conso le a br ave and wise man, r ather than

pr etend tohave d iscover ed any hope of safety for you ,
e xcept what I tho u ght o ne ou ght to hope for fr om the
state itself wh en this c o nagr ation has been extin
guished . Le t me r emind yo u of yo ur lette r s in which

y ou always showed a br ave spir it, steadfast and r ead y

tomeet all misfor tu nes which I do no t wonder at wh en
I r emember that fr om the ear liest par t of your lif e you
wer e engaged in the affair s of the repu blic , and that
y ou h eld oc e d u r in g th e mo st cr it ic a l tim e f or sa fe ty
and for tu nes of the c o mmo n wealth, and that you en
ter ed this ver y war , pr ep ar ed no t on ly if victo r io us fo r

happiness, b u t if it should sohappenin case of defeat,

tobear it like a wise man Th en, as yo
. u ar e sp en ding
your enem in wr iting a histor y of br ave men, you

ou ght to consider that you should do nothing, soas not

to show your self ver y like tho se whom you pr aise Bu t .

this idea would b e better adapted for those times which

y ou h a v e n ow esc a p ed. Now o nly p r ep ar e yo ur se lf to
endur e with us the comin g c ala m it ies ; if I co uld nd
any r emedy fo r th em, I wo uld give it to yo u also . Bu t
th e only r efuge is th e p ur suit of liter ar y stu dies, in
which we have always been conver sant This seems .

in pr o sper ity togive some amusement , bu t no w inver y

tr u th it fur nishes su ppor t Bu t tor etur nto the begin
.

ning, do no t dou bt that ever ythin g h as b een se tt led

co nc er ning your par d onand r et ur n .

LXXVI . x11 .

I am distr essed abou t Seius ; bu t all humantr ou bles

mu st b e bor ne Our selves, why ar e we
. Or how long
ar e we tob ear th ese bur den s? L et us look to tho se
things wh ich concer nu s mor e , and yet not mu ch mo r e ;
what we ar e tod oabou t th e S enate And that I may.

not omit anything, Caesonius has writtentome that

 LXXVII .
( FAM IX
. . 14 1

Postu mia, th e wife of S ulpiciu s, h as c ome tohis h ou se .

Th e dau ghter of P ompey th e Gr eat I wr ot e you that I

am n ot now consider ing ; I think you know that oth er
one whom you wr ite of ; I never saw an u glier cr e atu r e .

Bu t I am coming, and th en can talk with yo u After .

sealin g th e lette r I r ec eiv ed yo ur s I am glad toh e ar

.

Attic a is socheer fu l ; I feel for h er indisp osition .

L XXVII .
( Fm . IX .

I donot ventur e togive to my Salviu s no letter for

y o u ; b u t I h a v e not hin g to w r it e e x c ept th a t I a m r e

mar kably fond of you ; abou t this I am su r e you h av e

nodou bt, evenif I wr it e nothing to yo u . I ou ght gen
er ally to expe ct a letter fr o m yo u r ath er than yo u o ne
fr om me, for nothing is going on at R ome that I think
y o u wo u ld c a r e to k now ,
u n less p er h a p s y o u w i sh to
know that I am ar biter between o u r Nicias an d Vidiu s .

Vidiu s I su ppo se br ings for war d his char ge against

N icias in two lines ; Ar istar chu s, his opponent, mar k s
these as spur ious I, like an ancient cr itic, am to d e
.

cide whether th ey ar e genu ine or inter polated I think .

y o u ar e n ow sa y ing , H a v e y o u fo r g ott en tho se m u s h

r ooms which yo u ate at N icias s t able ? And the gr eat

.

pr awns and cu ttle sh ? -

What, do you think my old
sever ity has b een socompletely lo st that even in c o u r t

no r emnant of my for mer stem ness appear s ? Bu t I

will take car e that my mo st agr eeable fr iend shall not
su er , n or will I b e a p ar ty to condemning a p er son for
y o u to r esto r e hi m ,
lest B u r sa P l an en s h a v e a t e ach e r

to teach him his letter s Bu t what am I doing ? When

.

I do not know whether you ar e tr anqu il in mind or

whether , as inwar , you ar e distur b ed by some ser iou s
car e o r an xiety, I r un o ntoo far ; wh enth en I nd ou t
that you will b e glad to lau gh I will wr ite mor e at,

length to yo u . Y et I wish you to know this, th at the

14 2 SELECT LETTER S OF CICER O .

pe op le w er e gr eat ly agitat ed de ath of P u bliu s

at the
S ulla befor e they knew wheth er it was c er tain o r no t;
now th ey h ave c eased to ask how h e died ; they think
it is eno u gh fo r them to know wh at th ey know A s for .

th e r est I list enwith e qu an

,
imity ; one thing I fear , th at
Caesar s au ctions gr ow slack

.

L XXVIII .
( FA M . VI .

A s so onas I h ad r eceived your le tter fr om S eleu c u s, I

immediately wr ot e a not e to Balb u s asking wh at was in
the law He wr ot e bac k that tho se whower e actu ally
.

holding the oice of p u blic cr ie r wer e for bidden tob e

c ou ncillo r s those whohad fo r mer ly h eld it wer e not for
bidden Ther efor e le t ou r fr iends b e of good co ur age ;
.

fo r it wou ld hav e b e e n into ler ab le ind eed if, wh enmen

who w er e pr acticing div ination on this ver y d ay wer e
cho sen in to the Senate at R ome tho se wh o ever had
,

bee n p u blic cr ier s shou ld not b e allowed to b e senator s

in th e pr ovincial towns Of Sp ain I know nothing ;
.

y e t it app e ar s P omp e y h as a la r ge ar m y ; for C ae sar

himse lf sent his fr iends a copy of a letter of P acise cu s

whic h annou nced he h ad eleven legions Mor eover , .

Messalla has wr itten toQu intu s S alassus that P ublius

Cur tiu s, his br oth er , at his command was execu ted in
th e pr esenc e of th e ar my of P omp ey bec au se h e had
agr e ed with so me Sp an iar ds, if P omp ey c ame intoa cer
tain town for pr ovisions, toseize him and lead him to
Caesar . I nr egar d to th e secur ity inwhich yo u stan d
en a
g g e d fo r P omp ey , if Galba, who is jointly bound
with you , r etu r ns, a man of gr eat car efu lness inmoney
matter s, I sh all not fail toconsu lt with him if anything
can b e ar r anged ; h e seems to me to fe el con dent I .

am ver y glad that yo u soappr ove my Or ator I at

te r my self that I h av e b r ou gh t to g e th er in th at boo k
whate ver skill I have in sp eaking If the book is su ch
.
 LXXIX .
( FAM xv
. . 14 3

as y ou t e ll m e yo u th ink it is, th en I to o am of sd m e

co nsequ ence if not, I d onot r efu se to r e st all my r epu

tatio nfor cr itic al ability u pon that book I h Ope our .

L epta is inter e st ed insu ch wr itings ; tho u gh h e lack s

matur ity, yet it is not withou t advantage to ll h is
ear s with wo r ds o f this kind . I nany case, th e co n ne
ment of my T ullia h as kept me at R ome Bu t thou gh .

sh e is, as I h e p e , suiciently str on g, I am ye t d e t ai n e d

un til I get fr om Dolab ella s agents the r st instalment,

and I am no t no w somu c h of a tr aveller as I u sed to

b e ; my bu ildings used to delight me, and th eir r etir e
ment N ow I have a hou se equ al to any of my villas,
.

an d th e r etir ement is gr eater than th e mo st seclu d ed

spot .And sono t ev enmy liter ar y labor s ar e hinder ed,
on whic h I am engaged withou t any inter r u ption .

Ther efor e, as I think, I shall see you her e sooner than

yo u w ill s ee m e th e r e
. L e t yo ur c h ar m i ng L e pt a l e ar n
Hesiod and have by hear t his sweat of vir tu e and the
r es t .

LXXIX .
( Fm . XV .

I po se you must b e somewhat ashamed, now that

su p

this thir d epistle has come downu pon you , befor e you
have wr itten a p age o r even a sin gle le tt e r in r e tur n .

Bu t I am no t u r gent, fo r I w ill w ait for a lon g er le tte r ,

or r ather , I will insist u pon it If I always h ad some

.

one by whom to send, I would wr ite thr e e letter s an

hou r ; for it happ ens in some way that you seem, as it
wer e, fac e to fac e with me, when I wr ite anything to
o
y ,u I do n ot m ean in im ag inar y app ar it io ns , a s yo u r

new fr iends say, who think that even inte llectu al im

aginatio ns ar e excited by the spectr es of Catius For , .

that yo u may u n der st and it, Catiu s the I nsu b r ian, an

Epicur ean, who has r ec ently died, c alls tho se spe ctr es
which that Gar gettiu s and Democr itu s befor e him had
called images Bu t evenif th e eyes could b e str u ck by
.
144 SELECT LETTERS OF CICER O .

these images becau se even of their own acco r d, th ey

,

r u sh tothem, I do no t see h o w th e mind can b e ; you

mu st explain to me when you have c ome safe home,
whether you r image is at my c ontr ol, so that as soon
as I choo se tothin k of yo u it h astens u
p to me, and
not only of you , who ar e at the bottom of my h ear t b u t ,

if I b egin tothink of the wh ole Br itish island, will its

image y to my mind ? Bu t of that later ; fo r if yo u

ar e angr y and annoye d, I shall say mor e and d emand

that you b e r estor ed tothat sect ou t of which , by for ce
an d by ar med men, yo u wer e ej ected I n this decr ee

.

it is no t usu al to add within the year S oif it is

.
'

two or thr ee year s since you divor ced your self fr om

vir tu e, coaxed by th e allu r ements of pleasur e, it is all
th e same tome . Bu t with whom am I sp eaking ? With
a ver y br av e man, who , aft er applying h imself to p u blic
a airs, did nothin g wh ich w as not of th e gr e at e st v alu e .

I n that v er y sect o f you r s I appr ehend that th er e is

mor e str ength than I h ad tho u ght, if you only appr ove '

it. How did this come into your mind ? you say .

Bec au se I have nothing else towr ite ; I canwr ite noth

ing abo u t th e r epu blic, fo r I may n ot wr ite what I feel .

L XXX .
( FAM VI
. .

I nmy last letter , led mor e by my aectio n thanb e

cau se ther e was any pr essing need, I wr ote somewhat
at length ; for yo ur fo r t itu d e need ed not to b e animat e d
by me, nor wer e my cir cu mstances and affair s su ch that
I, who was inwant of ever ything, could encour age any
one else At this time too I ought to b e somewh at
.

br ief ; for if then ther e was no need of many wor ds,

now th er e is r ath er need of none ; or if then th er e was
nee d, that letter was enough , esp ecially sinc e nothing
new has h app ened . Fo r althou gh we d aily h ear some

th ing of th ese events th e r epor t of which, I su ppo se,

,
 LXXXI . XI I . 14 5

r ea ch es you , yet the u pshot and r esult will b e th e same .

And this I see in mind as c le ar ly as what we see with

th e eyes, no r in tr u th do I se e anythin g w hi c h I do n o t
know su r e ly th at yo u to osee For thou gh no one can
.

div ine what issu e the battle will have, yet I for esee th e
issu e of the war , and su ppo sin g I c an n ot , I c e r t ain l y
c an for esee wh at will b e th e r esu lt of vic to r y in e ith e r

c ase, sin ce one side or the oth er must win And h a .

ing looke d clear ly thr ou gh this matte r , I see it is su c h

that in my Op inion th er e will b e nothin g to r e g r e t e v en
if that happ ens tous r st which is gen er ally pu t for w ar d

as the gr eatest obj e ct of dr ead ; fo r so to liv e as o ne

wou ld th en have tolive is mo st wr etched ; b u t nowise
man co nsider s death a misfor tu ne even for a happy ,

man Bu t yo
. u ar e in a city wh er e th e v er y walls seem

able to sp e ak mor e th an I an ,d mor e eloqu ently I .

g iv e yo u thi s c o m f o r t ,
tho u g h th e co n s ola t i o n fr o m th e

tr o u bles of oth er s is slight that you ar e in nowor se

,

plight th anany of tho se who have gone to the war nor ,

those wh oh ave r emained at home The for mer ght, .

th e latter fear , the conqu er o r Bu t this is small co nso

.

lation; that is a gr eater which I hope is your su ppo rt

as it is min e ; fo r as lo n g a s I live I s h all f r e t m y se lf

over nothing while I am entir ely fr ee fr om fault and ,

if I c e ase to exist I shall have nomor e consciou sness

, .

Bu t owls to Athens in saying this to you I c ar e .

m o st dear ly fo r yo u , you r family an d all you r inter e sts

,
.

and as lon g a s I liv e , sh all s o co nt inu e F a r ew el l. .

LXXXI .
( ATT XI I . . 14 \

Yester d ay I gave you a letter abou t my being excu sed

fr om th e banqu et of Appuleiu s I think there is no .

dim cu lty abo u t it ; noone will r efu se who ever it b e to ,

whom you apply But see Septimius and L amas and

.

S tatiliu s for th er e is n
, eed o f thr ee witnesses Bu t .
14 6 SEL ECT LETTERS OF CICERO .

Le nas has nder taken the who le matter for me Y ou

u .

wr ite that you hav e beenc alle d u ponby J unius ; Cor ni

ciu s is c er t ainly r ich, yet I should like to know when
I am said to have be come su r ety, whether for the father
or the son However , you will see, as you say, the
.

agen ts of Cor niciu s and A ppu leiu s, the estate dealer -

.

As to you r wishing that I b e r elieved fr om this gr ief,

y ou a r e do in g e v e r y th in g y o u c a n , b u t y o u c a n te s tif y
that I have done th e best I could for myself ; for noth
ing has be enwr itten by any o ne abou t assu aging gr ief
th at I have no t r ead at you r home b u t my sorr ow is to o
gr e a t fo r an y c o m f or t . B u t I h a v e do n e wh a t n o o n e

su r ely h as done befor e me, an d c onso led myself by th e

pu r suit of liter ar y wor k in a book which I shall send
yo u if th e copy i st s h a v e w r itt e n it. I a s s ur e yo u th er e

is nosu ch con so lation I wr it e whole days, no

. t th at I
su cc ee d at all, b u t fo r th e time I am pr ev en ted fr om in
d u lging my gr i e f . N ot su i c ie n tly in d e e d f or th e b ur

d eno t f i Opp r e ss es m e b u t still I am r elieved, and I

str ive with all my str en g th n o t to e n c o u r ag e m y m i n d
indeed , b u t to cheer my co un tenanc e at least if I can,
and insod oin g it se e m s th a t I s ho ul d b e m a ki n g a m is~

take if I did not do it S olitu de aids me somewhat, b u t

.

it would avail mu c h mor e if yo u wer e h er e . This is my

only r easonfor leaving, for , consider ing mymisfor tu nes,
'

th e plac e su its me w ell ; yet I gr ieve o nthis accou nt, for

y o u c a n n ot b e to m e wh a t y o u w e r e . A l l is g o n e wh ic h
yo u used to love . I have wr itten you befor e abou t the
letter o f Br u tu s tome ; it was skilfu lly wr itt en, b u t was
nothing which wo uld h elp me A s towhat he wr ote to.

o
y , u I wo u ld w i s h th is, th a t h e h i m se lf w e r e p r es e n t;
c er t ain ly, sinc e h e is sodevot ed tome, h e would aid me
toso me exte nt . Bu t if yo u lear n an y t hi n g, I w i s h y o u

would wr ite to me , esp ecially wh en P ansa is going to

h is pr ovinc e I am sor r y fo
. r Attic a, ye t I tr u st Cr ater u s

! eep Pilia fr om p ain; I h ave enou gh sor r ow fo

.
r all.
 L XXXII .
( ATT . XI I .

L XXXI I . XI I .

P u blilia h as wr itt en me that moth er ,

j ust as if sh e
wer e sp eaking with P u b liliu s will c ome tome, and sh e
,

will come with h er if I am willing ; sh e begs, with many

pleading wor d s, that sh e may, and th at I wr ite h er in
r ep ly
. Y ou se e wh at a tr ou ble the matt er is I r eplie d .

that ther e wer e heavier bu r dens on me thanwh en I

told h er I wish ed to be alone, for which r eason I was
un willing that she shou ld come to me ; I thou ght if
I wr ote nothing that my wife would come with h er
,

moth er and now I d onot th ink so; for it seems th at

,

th e letter was no t h er o wn I wish to avoid the v er y

.

thing which I see will happen their ar r ival ; and th er e

,

is o ne method of avoidanc e wh ich is necessar y , thou gh

I do not like toadopt it I now ask you tond ou t how
.

long I c an r emain h er e, soas no t to b e cau ght Y ou .

will act as you wr ite with c au tio n I wou ld lik e to

, .

pr opo se for Cicer o if only it seems to you not u nfair

, ,

that h e will make th e r ents of Ar geletum and Aventine

meet th e co st s of th is tou r ; which h e would have been
qu ite satised with if h e had b een at R ome and h ad
hir ed a hou se ther e, as he thou ght of doing Wh enyou .

h ave pr oposed this to h im, I shall b e glad if you will

your self ar r ange th e r est , how I can su pply h im fr om
tho se r ents with what he needs I will war r ant that .

neither Bibu lu s nor A cidimu s nor Messalla whoI h ear ,

will beat Ath ens will incu r gr eater exp enses thanwhat
,

will b e r ece ived fr om tho se r ent s ; and I wish you wou ld

see r st wh owish tob e te n an ts and at what r ent, then
that ther e may b e some one to pay onthe day appoint ed ,

and wh at pr ovisio ns fo r his jo ur n ey an d wh at e quip

ment s will b e enou gh . Cer t ainly th er e will b e noneed
of ananimal at Ath ens ; wh at mor eover , he u ses onthe
,

jou r ney is mor e th an he ne ede d at home, as you too

notice .
 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

L XXXI I I .
( F A M
. IV .

1

ome time afte r I had r e c eived th e infor mation
u . s

of the death of yo ur dau ghte r Tullia, you may b e sur e

that I bor e it sadly and h eavily, as mu c h indee d as was
r ight fo r me I felt that I shar ed that ter r ible lo ss with
.

y o u ; a n d th a t h a d I b u t b e e n wh er e y o u a r e, y ou on
you r p ar t wo u ld not hav e fou nd me negle ctful, and I on
mine shou ld not have faile d tocome toyou and tell you
myself how deeply gr ieved I am And thou gh it is tr u e
.

that c onsolatio ns of this natu r e ar e p ainful and distr ess

ing, because those ! de ar fr iends and r elat ions! u po n
whom th e task natur ally devolves ar e themselves af
icted with a similar bur den, and incap able even o f
attempting it witho u t many t ear s, so th at o ne wou ld
r ath er su ppo se them in n eed o f th e c onsolations of
other s for themselves than cap able of doing this kind
omc e for other s, yet never th ele ss I h ave dec ided to
wr ite toyou br iey su ch r ee ctio ns as have occur r ed to
me on th e pr esent occasion; not th at I imagine them
to b e ignor ed by yo u , b u t bec au se it is po ssible that

y ou m ay b e h in d e r e d by yo u r so r r ow fr om s e e in g th em
as c lear ly as usu al .

What r easonis ther e why you should allow th e pr i :

vate gr ief which has b efallenyou todistr ess you soter

r ib ly? R ecollect how for tu ne h as hith er to dealt with
u s : ho w we have been ber eft of all which ou ght to b e
noless dear to menthantheir ownchildr en of cou ntr y,
position, r ank, and ever y honor able ofce If one mor e .

bur den has now beenlaid u ponyou , cou ld any addition

h e mad e to you r p ain? Or is th er e any h ear t that, hav
ing been tr ained inth e school of su ch ev ent s, o ug ht no t
now to b e st eeled by u se against emotion, and think
e ver ythin g aft e r th e m to b e c o m p a r ati ve ly li h t ?
g
Or is it fo r h er sake, I su ppo se th at yo ,
u ar e gr iev

ing ? Ho w many t ime s mu st you h ave ar r iv e d at the

 L xxx I n .
( FAM I v
. . 149

sa me c onclu sion as that into wh ich I too have fr e

qu ently fallen, that in these days their s is not th e har d
e st lo t whoar e p er mitt ed p ainlessly toexch ange their
life fo r th e gr ave ! N ow, wh at was ther e at the pr esent
time th at co u ld att ach her v er y str ongly to life ? what
hope ? wh at fr u ition? wh at co nso lation fo r th e so ul ?

The pr ospect of a w edded life with a hu sband cho sen

fr om ou r yo ung men of r ank ? T r uly, o ne wo uld think
i was always inyou r po
*
wer tochoose a soninlaw of a - -

p o si t io n s u it a b le to yo u r r ank o u t of o ur you n g m e n ,

me to who se keeping you would feel you cou ld safely

en tr ust the happ iness of a child ! Or th at of being a
joyf u l m oth e r o f c h ildr e n ,
who w o u ld b e h a pp y in se e
n th em su cc ee din
g g in li f e ; ab le by th eir o w n e x er

tions to maintaininits integr ity all that was bequ eath ed

them by their father ; intending gr adu ally tor ise to all
th e high est o mces of the state ; and tou se that liber ty
towhich th ey wer e bo r n fo r th e good of their co un tr y
and the ser vic e o f th eir fr iends ? I s ther e an y o n e of
these things th at has no t b een t akenaway b efor e it was
g iv e n ? B u t s ur ely it is h a r d to g iv e u p o n e

s ch ild re n ?
I t is ha d ; b u t this s ha d
r i r e r sti ll that they shou ld
be ar and suer what we ar e d oing .

A cir cumstance which was su ch as to aor d me no

light consolation I c an not b u t mention toyo u , in th e

hOpe th at it may b e allowed to contr ibu t e equ ally

towar d s mitigatin g yo ur g r i ef
.
v
A s I w a s r et u r ni n g
fr o m A sia, when sailing fr om E gina in the dir ection
of Negar a, I began to look ar o und me at th e var ious
p la ce s by w h ic h I w a s s ur r o u n d e d B e h in d m e w as

n
.

ina, infr ont Megar a ; o nth e r ight , the Pim us, o nthe
xeft, Cor in th : all of th em towns that in for mer days
wer e mo st magnic ent, b u t now ar e lying pr ostr ate and
inr u in s b efor e o n e s ey e s

. Ah me, I begantor eect

t omyself,

we poor feeble mor tals, who c anclaim bu t
.

a shor t life in compar ison, c omplainas if a wr ong was

15 0 SELECT L ETTER S OF CICER O .

done u s if one of our nu mber dies in th e cou r se of nat

nr e, or has met his d eath by violenc e ; and h er e inone
spot ar e str etc hed o u t be for e me the cor pses o f somany
cities ! Ser viu s, be master of your self, and r emember
it is th e lot of man to whic h you have beenbor n .

Be
lieve me, I fo u nd myself in no small degr ee str ength
en ed by th ese r e ectio n s
. L et me ad vise yo u to o if
,

y o u t hin k g ood , to k e e p th is r e e ctio n b efo r e yo u r ey es

.

How lat ely , at one and the same time, have many of ou r
illustr io u s men fallen! how gr av e an encr oac hment
has be en made o n th e r ight s of the sover eign p eop le
of Rome ! Ever y pr ovinc e in th e wor ld has been con
vu lsed with th e shock ; if th e fr ail life of a t en der
womanhas gone too, who being bor n to th e common
,

lo t of man, mu st needs have die d in a few shor t year s,

evenif th e time h ad n ot come for her now, ar e you thus
u tt er ly str ic ken d own?

Do yo u th en also r ecall your feelings and you r

thou ghts fr om dwelling on this su bj ect , and , as b e
see ms you r ch ar acte r , be thin k yo ur self r ather of this
that sh e has lived as long as life was of valu e to h er ;
that she passed away only to gether with h er cou ntr y s

fr eedom ; that she live d to see h er father electe d P r ae

to r , Consu l, Augur ; th at sh e h ad been the wife of

you ng men of the r st r ank ; that after enjoying well

nigh ever y blessing that life c ano ffer , she left only when
the R epu blic itself was falling . Th e acco u nt is clo sed ,
and wh at h ave yo u , wh at h as she, to char ge of in ju s
tice against Fat e ? I n a wor d, for get not th at you ar e
ic r
C e o that yo u ar e he who was always wo n t to gu id e
other s and give them good advice ; and b e not like those
qu ack physicians wh o when others ar e sick, bo ast th at
,

they hold the key of th e knowledge of medicine, toheal

themselves ar e never able ; b u t r ath er minist er to your
self with yo u r o wn hand th e r emedies whic h you ar e in
the habit of pr escr ibing fo r oth er s, an d pu t th em plain ly
 L XXXI II .
( FAM.I v .

b e for e you r own soul Th er e is no pain sogr eat b u t

.

th e lap se o f time will lessen and assu age it ; it is no t

like yo u r self to wait till this time comes, inst ead of
st epp in g fo r w a r d b y yo ur philo s op hy to a nticipate th e
r esult . And if even th o se who ar e lo w in the gr ave
have any co nscio usness at all, su ch was her love for
y o u a n d h er t en d er ness for all a r o u nd h er th
, at su r e ly
sh e do es n ot wish to see this in you . Make this a tr ib
u te then to h er wh o is d ead ; to all you r fr ien ds and
r elation s who ar e mou r n ing inyour gr ief ; and make it
toyou r countr y also , th at if inanything th e need sho uld
ar ise, she may b e able to tr us t toyou r ener gy and guid
anc e . Finally, sinc e su ch is the condition we have
come to, that even this consider ation mu st perfor ce b e
obeyed, do not let your condu ct indu c e any one to b e
lieve that it is no t so mu ch your dau ghter as th e cir
cu mstan c es of th e R epu blic an d th e victor y of oth ers
which you ar e deplor ing .

I shr ink fr om wr iting to you at gr eater length u po n

this su bj ect, lest I should seem to b e d ou btful of your
owngood sense ; allow me ther efor e topu t before you
one mor e c onsider ation, and then I will br ing my letter
toa clo se . We have seenyou not once, b u t many times,
b ear ing pr o sp er ity mo st gr ac efu lly, and gaining yo ur
self gr eat r ep u tation th er eby ; let u s se e at last th at yo u

ar e c ap able also of bear ing adv er sity e qu ally w ell and ,

that it is not inyou r eyes a he avier bu r denthanit o ught

to seem ; lest we sho u ld think that of all the vir tu es this
is the only o ne inwhic h you ar e wanting .

A s fo r myself, wh en I nd you ar e mor e composed in

mind I will send you infor mationabo u t all that is b eing
done in th ese p ar t s, and the state in which the pr ov
inc e nds itself at pr esent Far ewell .
15 2 SELECT LETTERS OF CICER O .

L xxx1v .
( m
F . v .

I f yo u ar e ingood health, it is well ; I am in abo u t as

goo d h ealth as I gener ally am, yet no t qu it e sowell as

usual I have ver y often sou ght to see you ; I have

.

wond er ed that you have never beenat R ome since you

left, and no w too I wonder at it I am not at all su r e
.

what it is that keep s you away so mu ch I f you ar e .

en joying you r so litu de, since you ar e wr iting and fol

lowing some of tho se pur suits to which yo u h ave b ee n

ac custo me d, I am glad , and do not obj ect toyou r idea ;

fo r n othing can b e mor e pleasant, both in these tr ou b
lou s and unfor tunat e times and inpeac e and happiness ,

espe c ially c on sid er in g e ith er th e wear iness o f yo u r

mind, which now seeks r est fr om its gr eat tr ou bles, or
its lear n ing pr od u cing as it do es something fr om itself
which may d elight other s and glor ify your self with
p raise Bu t if, however , as you went fr om her e , you
.

g a ve yo ur se l f u p to t ea r s an d sa d n es s , I sy m p at hi z e

with you that you ar e intr ou ble and anxiety I cannot .

but nd fault with you if you allow me to sp eak fr e ely

,

what I think Why ar e you th e only one to see what

.
,

is plainbec au se yo u h ave insight in to matter s th at ar e

hidden? Doyou not know that you avail nothing with
you r daily complaints ? Doyou know you ar e dou bling
y o ur a nx ie ties ,
w hi ch yo ur p ru d en c e b id s yo u r elie v e ?
Bu t if I can ac co mplish nothing by my p er su asion, I
u r ge yo u as a fr ien d, and b eg if you ar e willing to d o
anythin g fo r m y sa k e ,
t ha t y ou w ill f r ee yo u r se lf fr o m
you r anxieties and r etur n toyour associationwith me
an d toyou r usu al habits of life, either su ch as we have
shar e d incommon o ,
r su ch as yo u may choo se fo r yo u r

self . I d onot wish toannoy you if you ar e not pleased

with my e ar ne stne ss ; yet I wish tod eter you fr om p er
sisting inyo u r p u r po se . N ow th e se twoc ontr ar y things
wor r y me ; I hOpe t hat you will either c omply with me
 LXXXV .
( FAM
. v .

inthe latter, if you can, or at least that you will not

ence at th e for mer Far ewell
take o . .

LXXXV .
( Fm V
. .

All you r aection is entir ely evident in th at letter

which I last re c eived fr om you , not indeed that it was
un known to me, yet it was pleasing and gr atifying ; I
would say joyfu l, if I had not lost that wor d for all

time ; and not onthat one accou nt which you su ppose

and inr egar d to which yo u ser io usly r epr o ach ed me in
most gentle and loving wor ds, b u t because ther e are no
r emedies, as th er e should be, fo r sogr ievous a wou n .d
What th en? Shall I take r efu ge with my fr iends ?
Ho w many ar e ther e ? For we had almost th e same
fr iends, som e of whom ar e d ead, other s ar e har d en ed in

so me way . With you I could live indeed, and would

especially like to ; o ur age, love, habits, an d o ntha
sisema ar e the same ; what bond, I ask, is wan ting to
our unity ? Canwe thenb e togeth er ? I donot know
what ther e is to pr event, b u t we c er tainly have not
hith er to been together , at the times when we were
neighbor s in th e cou ntr y at Tu scu lum or P ute oli ; for
why need I speak inr egar d to city life ? Ther e we do
not need to live near each oth er , since th e For um is a
commonmeeting plac e Bu t for some r easonour lives
-
.

fell insu ch cir cu mstances th at whenwe ou ght to have

been eminent, we wer e even ashamed of living ; for
what r efuge had I, str ipped as I was of pr ivate and
p u blic en joy m e n ts and co nsola t io ns ? Boo k s, I su p
p o se ,
with w hic h I a m co ntinu ally em p loye d ; fo r wh at
else can I d o ? Bu t in some way th e v er y bo o ks seem
to exclu de me fr om a har bor of r efuge and, as it wer e,
tor epr oach me because I r emain inthat state o f exist
en ce inwhich ther e is only a continu anc e of wretched
ness Doyou wonder that I stay away fr o
. m that city
15 4 SELECT LETTER S OF CICER O .

in which my home c an not be a pleasur e to me, an 1 I .

am at var ianc e with the sp ir it of th e times, th e F or u m

and the Cur ia ? And soI devote my self to lite r atur e, in
which I spend all my time, not that I may seek a nal
re med y for my tr ou bles, b u t that I may for get my gr ief
a little Bu t if yo
. u an d I had done what we never
e v entho u ght o f doing, on account of th e daily fear we
lived in, if we had always been together , your state of
health would never have tr ou bled me, nor my sorr ow,
y ou L
. et us do wh at we c an ; for what is better for
us ? SoI will see yo u at an ear ly d ay .

L XXXVI . XI II .

Your lette r abou t Attica gr eatly wor r ied me, and yet
it quie ted my fears ; fo r th at you comfor te d yo ur self by

that same letter , that was enou gh to r elieve me Y ou .

have spoken highly of the spee ch fo r Ligar iu s ; in

fu tur e, whatever I wr ite, I will make you my au ction

eer . As to what you wr ite me abou t Var r o , you know
that I have beenused to wr iting speeches hitherto on
things of that kind, so that I c ou ld not inser t Var r o
anywher e in them ; b u t after I h ad begun th ese tr ea
tises, mor e liter ar y in char acter , Var r o had alr eady
ann o u nced of making a r eally gr eat and valu able dedi
catio nto me Two year s passed away while that ! alli
.

p id e s tho
,
u gh c o nst antly m ov ing did n
,ot ge t on an inch ;
b u t I was pr epar ing to r eply to what h e sho u ld send
me , with the same measu r e, and better if I co uld ; for
this also Hesiod wr ite s, if you can Now, as you wished,
.

I have betr othe d to Br u tu s my De Finib u s, which

I valu e highly ; you have wr itten me that h e was

ple ased with the c ompliment S o th e A cad emica, I n
.

which men illustr ious indeed b u t by no means liter

, ,

ar y, speak with too mu ch su btle ty let me dedic ate to

,

Var r o, for it is in th e style of Antiochu s, which Var r o

 L XXXVI I .
( A TT XI.I I .

highly appr oves I will in so me

. other wor k r epay Catu
I ns and L entulu s for th eir lo ss ; at least if yo u appr ove

this pr opo sal ; and wr ite back tome, if yo u please, what

yo u th ink of it I hav.e r e c eiv ed fr o m V estor ius a lette r

abo u t th e sale of the estate of Br in nius ; he says that

withou t any disc ussion th e affair was r efer r e d to me
Ju ne 24 per haps th ey thou ght I wou ld be at Rome or
inT u sc u lu m Soyo . u will please tell eith er yo ur frien d
Sextu s Vettin e, my co h eir , o r my fr ien
~ d L abeo , to de
fer th e sale a little I will b e in T u sculu m Ju ly 7 .

P iso and Er o s ar e both with yo u L et us d evote o

. ur

whole attentionto the consider ationof the gar d ens of

Scapu lus : th e day appr oaches .

L xxxv n . XII I .

by what you wr ote me of Var r o , I withdrew the

L ed
whole Acad emica fr om those noble men and dedicated
it to o ur fr ien d, and r e cast it fr om two books into four .

They ar e on the whole longer thanth e for mer ones, yet

I took ou t many things I am ver y anxious to have
.

y ou w r ite m e wh a t you kn ow of hi s wis h e s ; b u t at an y

r ate I want to kn ow this, who it was that you think he
en vied unless p er haps it was Br u tu s ; this indeed , was
, ,

the on ly o ne I c ou ld enter tain; yet I shou ld mu c h like

to b e cer tain I ndeed, th e wor k was issu ed, u nless per
.

hap s a common self r egar d deceives me , sothat of th e

-

kind nothing was e ve r lik e th em even among th e

Gr eeks ; yo u will bear th e lo ss, that what yo u h av e of

the A cad emica was copied tonopur po se ; yet these ar e

mu c h mor e splendid than those, shor te r and better .

Now ho w, ever I am ind o u bt wh er e to tu r n; I wish to

,

wr ite something for Dolab ella, who is ver y anxiou s for

it. Bu t I do no t see what it c an b e and I to o stand,

inawe of th e Tr oj ans, no
r can I esc ap e th e blame , if

ther e is an y . S o I m ust e ith er s top or t hi n k of s om e

15 6 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

thing . why d oI car e for these minor qu estions ?

Bu t
I beg you , how is my A ttica ? Sh e causes me gr eat
anxiety Bu t I fr e quently r ere ad yo ur letters and calm
.

myself by them ; yet I await new ones .

L xxxvm .
( P m . VI I .

I nr egar d to your distr ess at the letter h aving been

destr oyed, d onot b e unhappy abo u t it ; it is safe , and
you c an c all for it wh en you wish I w as v er y glad o
. f
your war ning ; and I ask you always to doit For you .

see m to fear that if we ha 7 0 him as an enemy, we shall

lear nth e Sar dinian lau gh Bu t look o
. u t ! your han d
06 th e tablet ! Th e matter is come soo ner than we
thou ght ; I am afr aid th at he will send all the Cato
niens to th e lower wor ld My dear Gallu s, b e assur ed
.

that nothing cou ld b e better than the par t of your let

ter following th e wor ds, The r e st ar e falling This

.

is pr ivate ; listen, keep it to your self, do no t even tell

it to Apelles, you r fr ee dman; exc ept our selves, noo ne
spe aks in that style of o ur s ; wheth er w ell o r ill, I will

c onsid er at an other time ; b u t whatever it is, it be longs

to us two alone P u sh on the n, and do not str ay a
.

nail s br ead th , as they say, fr om your wr iting ; for it is

the ar tisan of speech And so I indeed spend my

.

nights also .

L XXXIX .
( ATT
. XIII .

To think of my having a gu est who co st me somu ch

an xiety, and yet nor e gr et ! F o r it was ver y pleasan t .

Bu t wh en, onthe sec ond day of the Satur nalia he came ,

to Philip s house it was sofull of soldiers that scar c ely

,

was the c ou ch empty on which Caesar himself was

go ing to dine , as th er e w er e two tho u sand men I wa s .

indeed tr o u bled as to what wou ld happ en the next

day, b u t Bar bs Cassius came to my assistance, and
 XC (FAM VI I

. . . 15 7

fur nished a guar d . Camp was pitc h edonthe gr ounds ;

th e ho u se was def ende d He r emained at P hilip s
.

house on the thir d day of th e Satu r nalia till one

o clock, and did not allow any one to enter ; I su ppose

h e had so me business with Balbu s Then he walked .

onthe shor e After two o clock he went to th e bath ;

.

thenhe hear d abou t Mamur r a, bu t it had no effect on

him . He was anointed and took his plac e at dinner .

He inte nded to take anemetic, soh e both ate and dr ank

fr eely, and with a good app etite, su mptu ou sly and
fully, nor that only, b u t with exc ellent conver sation
well digested and seasoned, and if you ask, delightfully
-

too .

B esides, on the thr ee cou c hes his fr iends wer e
abu ndantly well enter tain ed ; n othing was lacking for
th e less noble eeh en and s av es ; b u t th e mor e ele
l

g a n t m en w er e sp len didly r e c eived Wh y do I say .

mor e ? We seemed to b e gentlemen Y et he is not a .

g u es t to w ho m you wo u ld s a y, I w ill d e vote m y s el f to

o co m thi w n d v i it m wh n o tu rn

y u ; e s a y a s e e y u r e .

Once is eno u gh Ther e was nothing of a ser iou s char

.

ac t er in th e c onver satio n, b u t mu ch liter ar y chat In .

shor t he was en
, ter tained, and to his satisfaction He .

said h e wo uld b e o ne day at P u teoli th e next near ,

Baim Y ou have my enter t aining or th e billet ing which

.

was not to my taste , I said b u t not pr odu c tive of any

,

gr eat inconv en ience I shall r emain h er e for a shor t

.

time and then goto Tu scu lu m When he p assed th e

, .

hou se of Dolab ella, th e whole body of his guar ds clo sed

up o n the r ight and left of his hor se and it was d one ,

nowher e else I lear ned that fr om Nicias

. .

XC .
( FA M VI I. .

I tr uly now neither ur ge nor ask you to c ome home ;

b u t I myself wish toy and go somewher e, wher e I
shall hear neith er th e name n lo
or the d eeds of the P o
158 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

pida . It is incr edible how base it seems in me to

r e main u n der th ese cir cu mstances Sur ely you seem

.

to have foreseen long befor ehand what was thr eaten

ing whenyou ed fr om here Eventhough these things
.

ar e ter r ible to h ear , yet it is easier to hear than tosee

th em Y ou were cer tainly not on the Campus whenat
.

the sec ond hour the electio nfo r qu esto r had begun th e

tr ib unal of Quintus Maximus, whom those me n call

c on su l, was plac ed , whe nn e ws was br ou ght of his su d

d en death, it was immediately re moved . Mor eover ,

Cwsar , who had opened th e comitia tr ibu ta, changed it
to the cent u r iata ; he anno u nced at the seventh hour
whowou ld be consu l until Janu ar y 1, th e next day ; so
y o u se e d ur in g t h e co ns u ls h ip of Ca nin iu s, n o o n e
dine d No har m was done while he was consul ; he
.

was r emar kably watchful, for dur ing his whole consu
late he saw nosleep .
. This seems r idiculous to you, for
y o u ar e no t h ere ; if you w e r e to se e th em , y ou c o uld
not r estr ain your tear s Why should I wr ite mor e !
.

Ther e ar e innu mer able things of th e same kind, which

indeed I would no t endur e if I had no
, t be takenmyself
into the har bor of philosophy, and had no t my fr iend
Atticus to shar e my stu dies ; as yo u wr ite yo u are his

by owner ship and bond, and mine by u se and enjoy

ment, I am contented with your distinc tion; for that be
lo ngs to o ne, which he use s and enjoys Bu t more of
.

this at anoth er time . Aciliu s who was sent with tr oops

,

into Gr eec e, is inthe re c eipt of ver y gr eat ser vices fr o m

me ; for twic e I defended him fr om capital pu nishment
with entir e safety, and he is ver y gr atefu l and h onor s
me par ticular ly . I have most car efu lly wr itte n to him
abo u t yo u , an d have joined that letter with this ; p lease
wr ite me how he receives it, and what he pr omises to
y o u .
 XCI .
( FAM . xn .
xcn .
( AM
F . x . 1 59

XCI .
( FAM XI I . .

Your fr iend I s daily gr owing mad ; inthe rst place,

the statu e which h e has placed o n th e r ostr a he has in
scr ibed, To the father mo st deser ving, so that you

ar e j u dged no t mer eiy assassians, b u t parr icid es Why .

do I say you ar e j u dged ?

Better , we ar e ju dged ;
fo r that madmansays 1 was th e lead er of that most glo

r ious m ovemen t of you r s Wo u ld I had been! He

.

wou ld not then tr ou ble u s Bu t this is your affair

. .

Since you have neglecte d t his, I wish I had so me ad

vice to give you Bu t I cannot e ven for myself nd
.

ou t what must be d one ; for what can be d one against

for c e, withou t for c e Bu t this is their whole plan to
aven g e th e d ea th of C e sa r ; so O ctob e r 2 h e c am e 01
ver y poor ly when br ou ght to a meeting by Cannu tius,
y e t h e spo k e of th e p r ot ec to rs of his co u n tr y in te r m s

which he should have u sed of its betr ayers ; of me h e

exp r essed n o d ou bt that you had done ever ything by
my ad vic e, and that Cannu tius was thensoactin g Of .

th e conditio nof oth er things, ju dge fr om this, that they

have r efused th e expenses to your legato; what expla
nation do you think they give indoing this That it is
being givento an enemy O unh appy state of affair s !
.

We c ould not endur e a master we ser ve a slave And , .

e
y , t a ltho u gh I h av e g ood w ish e s r ath e r th a n h Op e ,

evenn ow I have h epe in your ener gy Bu t where ar e .

th e for c es ? Abo u t the other tr o u ble, take counsel with

your self r ath er than depend u pon my words Fare .

well .

XCII (FAM X

. . .

How I wish you had invite d me tothat splendid ban

q u et on th e Ides of Mar ch ! W e sho u ld n ot hav e ha d
anythin g le ft ov er W.h er eas it is th e leav ings w ith
which I now have somu ch tr ou ble, that evenyour im
160 SELECT LETTER S OF CI CERO .

mor tal gift to your countr y has something in it fo r

co mp al in t I n f ac t th e r e a r e tim e s wh e n inme, ho w

.
,

ever this is almo st sin

,
fu l I am dispo sed tob e an gr y
when I think that it was you , one of our good menand
tr u e, who took him aside, and that than ks entir ely to
your kindness this post is still alive ; since tome alone
y o u ha v e le ft m o re t r o u ble than toall other people be
sid es myself pn t toge ther . Fr om th e r st momen t
indeed that , after Antonin a s disgr acefu l dep ar tur e, th e

Senate could come together fr eely, I br o u ght myself

back to the spir it of old days, which you , like your

father , the most enthusiastic of p atr iots, h ad ever o n
y o ur lip s an d in yo ur lov e. F o r wh e n th e t r ib u n e s h ad
co nvened the Senate for th e twentieth of December ,

an d were intr odu cing a pr oposal o n another matter , I

d ealt with th e whole qu estion of th e po sition of the Re
p u b lic in m y p s e e c h , a n d ur g e d thi s p o i n t w i th t h e

u tmost vehemen ce and, mor e by th e for ce of my enthu

siasm than my abilities, called back o ur n e w dr o oping
an d exhausted Senate to its ancient ener gy and c har
acte r .This day, together with my own eor ts and
p p
r o o sa ls, h a s r st b r o u g ht t h e p e op le of R o m e a vi si o n
of the r ecover y of th eir liber t ies ; nor indeed have I
myself since th en allowed any inter val to elapse with
ou t not mer ely thinkin g b u t ta ki n g a ct io n f o r th e Re

p u b lic A.n d b u t fo r the fac t that th e n e w s f r o m tow n

an d all that go es o n is, I su ppo se, r epor te d to you , I
would myself desc r ibe it in fu ll, altho u gh I am ham
per ed by engagements of th e u tmost impor tance Bu t .

su ch thin g s a s th e se y o u sh a ll le ar n fr o m oth er p e op le;

fr o m me only one or two, and those ver y br iey We .

have a S enate th at is r esolu te ; ex c onsu ls in some -

cases timid, in other s ill aected ; in S u lpicius we had

-

had a gr eat loss . L u cius Caesar is o n the r ight side in

feelin g, b u t b e c a us e hi s n ep h e w is co n c er n e d h e do es
 XCI I .
( FAM . X .
XCI I I .
( FAM XI.I . 161

not favor any r igor ou s pr opo sals The consuls ar e .

most admir able ; Decimus Br u tus a noble example ;

Ctesar a you th of singular ability, who will, I myself ex
p ect, go on as h e h as b egu n How e v er .
, this at least yo u

may take as cer t ain, that if he h ad not r apidly enr olled

the vet er ans, and if two legion s fr om th e An tonian
for ces had not tr ansfer r e d themselves to his standar d ,
and thu s been a men ace in th e p ath of Anto niu s, th er e
was nokind of wickedness, nokind of cru elty that An
tonina was lik ely to have left alone This, although I .

su ppo se you hav e alr e ady h ear d it, I wanted tobe co n

r mcd toyou I will wr ite mor e at length if I
. nd I
have mor e leisur e .

XCII I .
( FAM XI I . .

Wh at t t of our pr o spects was at the time

th e s a e

when I wr ote this letter , you will have anOppor tunity

of lear ning fr om Caius T itiu s Str abo, a wor thy gentle
man, and one whois most w ell dispo sed to th e R epu b -

lic ; what need is th er e fo r me to say also of him that

h e is most eager tosee yo u , wh en h e h as left his home

and all th at h e has, makin g it hi s r st obj ec t to co m e to

y ou ? And ther efore in his case I wr ite nole tter of r ec
ommendation to you ; his ar r ival will initself to you ho
a satisfac to r y r ecommendation What I wish you to
.

think and let you rself be thor ou ghly assur e d of is that

ifwhic h I hope may no t b e th e caseanything un
,

towar d has once befallen us then th e only r efuge that

,

g ood m en h av e to y to is to b e fo u n d in yo ur self and

Br u tus At th e time of my wr iting things have been
.

br ou ght to a nal cr isis ; for Br u tu s is now bar ely able

to hold his po sition at Mu tina Wh en he has been .

saved , th en we h av e tr iumphe d b u t if which God for

,

b id that fails, all of us have b u t one r oad to r un, and

162 SELECT LETTERS OF CI CERO .

that is to you two I nview of which d oyou ar m you r

.

self with all th e spir it and all th e r eso ur c es of power

which are now re qu ired to winback the Repu blic inits
integr ity .Farewell .

XCIV .
( FAM X. .

Sosoonas v the Oppor t u nity was givenme of still

e er
fu r ther pr omoting your distinctions, I omitted nothing
inglor ication of yo u , sofar as that co n siste d in eith e r

a su bstan tial r ewar d of yo ur mer its, or an honor ar y

re cogn ition of th em This you will be able toper c eive
.

fr om the ver y for m in which the Senate passed th e d e

cr ee, it having been nally dr awn up fr om my dicta
tion in the way which I su gge ste d when I expr essed
my Opinion, to whic h a cr owde d ho u se assented w ith
intense enth usiasm and gr eat u nanimity Altho u gh
.

fr om the letter you wr o te it h ad beenmade su iciently

clear to me that yo u fo u n d mor e pleasur e in th e delib ~

cr ate appr o val o f good men than in th e ext er nals of

g l or y , I m y self ne v er th e less h el d that we wer e bo und
to take into account, e ven were you to make noclaim
at all h o
, w mu ch the R epu blic owed to you Y ou will .

not fail to let your later wor k b e all of a piece with its
b egin n in g ; f or who e v e r s ha ll h a v e su cc ee d e d inge tt ing
r id of Mar c u s An tonius he it is that will have ended
,

the war ; and th us we nd that it is no t Achilles no r

Aj ax, b u t Ulysses that Homer has called him that

taketh a city .

XCV .
( FA M XI I
. .

Your brother inlaw, my once familiar fr iend, Lepl

- - .

du s, was on the thir tieth day of J u ne declar e d a pub

lic enemy by the unan imo us vo te of the Senate , as were
all those who shar ed his tr e ac her y to the Rep u blic ,

though to tho se it has bee n left Opento r etur nto their

 xcv .
( PAM XI I
. . 163

rig th mind before the r st of S eptember The Senate,

.

it is tr u e, is r esolu te, b ut that is mainly inth e hope of

the su ppor t yo u c an give
. Th e war indeed, at th e time
of my wr it ing this is tr uly ser io us thr ou gh th e villainy
,

an d wor thlessne ss of L epidu s . We daily hear satis

factor y news abo u t Dolab ella, b u t as yet withou t any

kno wn so ur ce given withou t au thor ity and u pon mer e
r u mor . But tho u gh this is th e case, yet su c h a convie
tion was establish ed in the pu b lic mind by th e letter
yo u wr ote fr o m your c amp o n the seventh of May, that
eve r ybo dy believe d him to b e nally cr u shed and you ,

to b e mar ching to Italy at the head of an ar my that ,

we might either r ely on your c ou nsel and au thor ity,

sho uld o u r pr e sen t wor k have been satisfactor ily done,
or on th e str ength of your ar my if as doe s happen in
,

war a false step had by any chance be en taken For

,
.

this ar my you may b e sur e that I will d oall that is inmy

p ow e r f o r p r ov id in g su pp lie s in e v er y way; th e r
p pO er

Oppor tu nity to attain which obj e c t will be after it has

begu n tob e known h ow mu ch str ength your ar my will
c on tr ibu te or what it has alr eady c ontr ibu ted to the
,

c au se of the R ep u blic ; for as yet we hear Of nothing

b u t ende av o r s, mo st mer itor iou s and gallant ones it is ,

tr u e , b u t still p eople look for something r e ally achieved ,

and this in dee d I feel c onde nt h as alr eady been

do ne in some degr e e or e lse is j u st impending Than
, .

you r own br aver y and magnanimity can b e nothing

mor e S plendid and we ther efo r e h Ope to see you in
,

Italy as soon as may be ; whe n we have both of you we

sh all seem too u r selv e s tohav e th e R ep u blic . We had
won a glor iou s victor y had L e pidus only not given
sh elter to An toniu s when he was str ipped, u nar med,
exile d ; an d c onsequ ently Anton iu s was ne ver held in
su ch dete st ation by th e p u blic as L ep idu s is n ow ; for
the for mer on ly o u t of a co u ntr y alr ead y embr o iled, the
latter , o u t of
p ea c e an d tr iu m h , has su cc eed ed inexcit
p
c onsuls elect, inwhom we hav e condence ind eed, and
-

that in noslight degr ee, b u t still not withou t anxious

suspen se , owin g to th e u nce r ta inty of the issu es of
battles Allow your self, therefore, to be thor oughly
.

persu ad ed that on you and your fr iend Br utu s ever y

thing depends ; that both of you ar e being looked for
at home , Br u tu s indeed no w at any moment And .

though as I tr ust whenyou ar r ive it will be tond all

, ,

our foes pr o str ate, still under your dir ection th e R e

p u blic sh all r ise fr o m h er ash e
,s an d b e estab lish e d on
so me satisfac tor y basis ; for ther e ar e ver y many things
yet we sh all have to r e pair evenif it shall be sh own
,

that the Repu blic has r eally been delivered fr om th e

iniq uity of her enemies . Far ewell.
 R od u ood fr om to

(P o
stag e 1 5 m . extr a . )

JBro
oks Ovi

owith I
I LLUSTRATED AND REVI SED EDI TI ON
, eric
.
o
n .

Marginal Notes and Foot Notes and Q uestions for Exs mnsth ns .

THE METAMO RPHO SES OF OVI D

sxeuacxrso

AND ADAPTED FOR MIXED C LASS ES .

E lu adated y by anan n
al st? an o M
d explanatio
f f bl

e a es .

r En
zq etker wit/ k N o H o m l M k ol

g lzir tes zirl r z y t ag , ,

zeal and Cntzml wztkpictm kal embellzk u m ts

'

, , ,

an d a co pio us

D I CT I ON A R Y
g r u

n
g M e m

eaning f o all M e w o r d s we 47 1 712 4 1

exactn ess .

av
Nam Co mcr ou Baooxs, Ph D LC D

v . .

Faou Haar s Au r arcanL I r n

'
s Ar v s n While all of Presl
dent Bro oks classical books are ad mirab le in d esignand
'

execu tion , that w hich has gained the greates t cred it for the
r ichness an d var iet o f its scholarship, and for its abun dant
helps inthe way 0 illustrations, is his ed itionof Ovid
.

FR O M D u N liws LL s C antee n To a text scrupu lo usl

.

y
clean sed fr om all that cou ld of fend the mo st d elicate fastidi
ousness he has ad d ed a bod y of explanatory notes, which
,

fo r fu llness, variety an d appropr iatenes s will co mpare with .

an ysimilar wo r k that has of late years issued fro m the pr ess ,

the co mpar ison !

.

PM REDUCED FROM T o m
(so nm w as.)

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